


Tempest

by Reily96



Series: The Tragic Storms [1]
Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
Genre: Age Difference, Amorality, Drama & Romance, Dubious Ethics, Emotional Manipulation, Eventual Smut, F/M, Manipulative Relationship, Mild Language, Minor Original Character(s), Revenge, Slow Burn, Teenage Drama, Teenage Rebellion, Threats of Violence, Tragedy, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-01-09
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-15 23:14:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 67,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9262982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reily96/pseuds/Reily96
Summary: Princess Zelda Ione, daughter of the Prince-Regent Link and the late Queen Zelda accidentally released her parents' greatest enemy, Vaati, as a child. Unbeknownst to her the evil she set free, she lives the next ten years of her life happily. But as the wind mage makes his presence known to her and she faces the pressures of taking the throne, her life begins to spiral out of control. Going from having everything from friends and good life, to loneliness and isolation, Zelda finds herself clinging to Vaati, the last person she ever thought would show her a care.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story is the same story of the same name posted on FanFiction.Net, and reposted by the author upon here.

“Princess Zelda, your father’s going to get pissed at me.” It was the deadpan voice of the extremely disinterested guardsman following the seven year old girl. Because truthfully, if there was anything this young guardsman wanted to do, it was certainly not to babysit a bratty little kid as she frolicked through the woods.

“No he won’t,” the girl said matter of factly, not at all looking like the princess she was in her muddied peasant dress. Her dirty blond hair was in disarray, falling messily down her face and back, hiding shining blue eyes that peered up at the disgruntled guard as she grinned at him, revealing missing teeth. “Because it’s gonna be my job to make sure that place is safe. I should know all about it, so going here, especially with you, is good. I won’t even tell him you said a bad word!” And with a mischievous giggle, she ran ahead, leaving the guard to scowl behind her.

“Why couldn’t you ask my brother to take you instead?” He whined, his longer strides easily catching up with the princess as he looked down his long nose at her.

The princess paused to pout at him, “Because your big brother’s a meanie! He never lets me go out past the garden!” And then she smiled that asymmetrical smile at him, “That’s why I like you better, Mr. Poe.”

The guard, actually feeling some sort of a blush on his face, simply averted his gaze from hers and scratched the back of his head absently, mussing his untidy black hair further in the process. “Whatever…” It was a typically teenaged answer, all the more fitting since the guardsman actually was a teenager, just barely old enough to be in the Guard Corps.

The girl said nothing, but skipped on ahead through the trees, laughing happily as she led the way to the Four Sword Shrine. Which as far as Poe care, she was perfectly entitled to go to whenever she wanted. As she said, she’d be hanging out there out there a lot in the future. Well, maybe not a lot, but enough so that it wouldn’t be weird if she got to know the place a little better. After all, ever since the kid’s mom croaked, the seal on that magical sword or whatever hadn’t been checked at all. Who knew what was going on with… whatever was in there.

“Huh…” he thought to himself as he absently followed the little girl’s wild steps. “Princess, what’s supposed to be at the Four Sword Shrine?” He had a feeling he should’ve known, but he was never into history, however recent it was.

“Oh Mr. Poe, you’re silly!” The girl chuckled, rolling her eyes at him. “There’s a sword there!”

He paused in his tracks to hold the bridge of his nose and take a deep breath. If he thought the kid was cute a few minutes ago, he was back to thinking she was annoying. “No, that’s not what I meant. What’s the sword supposed to have?”

Zelda turned around excitedly, smiling broadly at the guard and jumped up and down in place, “Ooooh, I love to tell the story!”

Poe hadn’t been looking for a story, but much as he wanted to tell the kid to stuff it, he couldn’t. If he made her cry, he didn’t even want to think about what her dad would do to him. Not that he had heard of the Prince-Regent doing anything horrible to anyone who offended his daughter, but he didn’t want to be the first to find out otherwise. She was Hyrule’s little gem, after all; a miracle child born from a minutes dead woman. She precious to all in the castle… well, mostly all.

With an exasperated sigh, he sat down in the grass and leaned against a fallen log. The little girl plopped down and excitedly began, “When my mommy and daddy were little, they would go to the Picori Festival together every year! And one day, on a special Picori Festival, a mysterious-mystenous-” Her face was scrunching up strangely as she tried to grasp the word.

“Mysterious,” Poe drawled a correction. He knew the story; everyone knew the story, but the kid may as well have her fun.

“Mysterious! Yes, there was a mysterious man who won the sword fighting tournament! So he would get to touch the Picori Sword! It was a fancy, magic sword that killed lots of monsters and kept more monsters locked up in a chest! But the mysterious-” Poe took note of the way she drew out the word; he was fairly certain this was her new favorite word, “-man went a broke the sword, and he let all of the monsters out! He was looking for something, but he couldn’t find it, and then – then he turned my mommy into a statue!” The way she paused after saying that told Poe she had been looking for a reaction. He didn’t give her one.

After a brief moment of disappointment, she continued, “So then my daddy went on a mission to fix the Picori Sword; and then he found this magic, talking hat! And together with the talking hat, he went on all these adventures, beating up monsters and fixing the Picori Sword! And when the sword was all fixed, it became the Four Sword! But while he had been fixing the sword, the evil man pretended to be my grandpa! And he took over the castle and everyone was statues! And then found out what he was looking for was with my mommy, so he tried to steal it from her! And then my daddy came, and the man turned into a monster, and then daddy used the Four Sword to lock him up inside of it! So, so the monster, um… um, Vaati? Yes, Vaati! He’s locked up in the Sword!”

 _All that chatter just to be reminded of a history lesson._ He thought dully. Everyone learned that story in school, about how the late Queen and the Prince-Regent fought Vaati. He’d just never really paid attention in class all that much since he was busy hiding dead squirrels from his brother. As such, hearing that Vaati wasn’t dead but in fact sealed within the Four Sword was kind of new. Kind of.

“Well if we’re gonna go see that Sword, we need to pick up the pace, Princess. Your father’s gonna notice we’re gone soon.” He said, using his spear to help pull himself from the ground.

The girl shot up immediately and giggled before rushing off and leading the way again. The guard just tried to make out the sun through the tree tops. The sun was beginning to lower on the western horizon, he thought, and the princess should have been going to her afternoon studies. There was no way they were going to make it back in time. Yup, he was gonna get in trouble. How irritating. But he’d get in even more trouble if he didn’t come back with the kid. And since he was going to get in trouble anyways, no use in trying to stop her from seeing the place.

After what seemed like forever, Zelda finally squealed, “It’s here!” as they entered the clearing of the Four Sword Shrine. It had been made by decree of the late King to ensure the safety of the Four Sword, as well as the upkeep of its seal. It was an open shrine, with no ceiling or roof and built with three walls and pointless pillars scattered around. On the back wall, carefully place bricks were slightly raised from the wall in the shape of a single, upwards glancing eye. And just before the wall was a dais with a sword lodged upright in a pedestal in the center. The eye, no doubt, was a warning as to what lay within the blade before them and why no one aside from the princess and her father was really allowed in this area.

For a few moments, the princess stood still and looked at the sword with awe. Poe simply stood, as disinterested by it as he was when the princess first came up to him and asked him to walk with her to the Shrine. But disinterest soon turned to alarm as the princess scuttled closer to the sword. “Princess… I don’t think you should be getting so close to that thing.” There was worry in his voice; he wasn’t even going to try to hide it.

“But… I hear something.” She said distantly.

Poe stepped forward hurriedly to the girl and took her by the arm with his free hand, his uneasiness all too apparent as he said, “Oh no, you are definitely not going near that thing then.”

“But Mr. Poe, someone needs help.” The girl was practically pleading as she struggled futilely against the guard’s grip, trying to get closer to the Four Sword.

“Don’t be stupid; it’s the monster! You know, the one you were telling me about!” He said angrily, pulling the girl aside and dropping his spear so that he had the girl’s shoulders in his hands, forcing her dirtied face to look at his. “It’s the monster; it’s Vaati.”

The girl bit her lip, her eyes trying to wander towards the sword, but Poe shook her lightly, bringing her attention back to him. “B-but… he sounds so… so lonely. He hurts, Mr. Poe. It doesn’t sound like a monster.” She said, distressed.

The guardsman looked beyond the young princess to the Four Sword, the stone image of the evil mage’s eye looming beyond it making it a menacing image. The beast was speaking to her somehow. He didn’t know how; he couldn’t hear a thing…

He couldn’t hear a thing. There was nothing but absolute silence in this place. Unnatural silence…

The guard looked back to the princess, “Listen to me, Princess; the monster is lying to you. He’s trying to make you feel sorry for him, he doesn’t mean it.” He honestly didn’t know when he’d begun to see this brat as something meaningful to him, but he definitely did not want anything bad happening to her. Especially not with a real monster so near…

The princess remained silent for a moment, her eyes lowering to the space between her ruddy peasant shoes. “I… You’re right, Mr. Poe.”

He let out a sigh of relief, and his grip on Zelda’s shoulders relaxed. “We should get going now. Your father’s probably going to skin me alive if you don’t get home to our studies soon.” Hah, that actually seemed so trivial to say now. He let her go and went to pick up his spear, but a flash of dirty blond hair running away from him made his head snap back up, only to be horrified at the sight of the princess stopping at the pedestal of the Four Sword to touch it.

The guardsman grabbed his fallen spear and began to sprint towards the foolish princess, but he was too late. She had touched the blade, and as soon as she did so, a claw emerged from the sword and hoisted the princess upwards. The girl screeched, banging her tiny balled fists against the giant black claw that was squeezing her seemingly to death.

Poe snarled as he thrust his spear at the arm of the claw that was streaming from the blade, only for some unseen force like the wind throw him aside like a rag doll. He fell to the floor face first, pain erupting searing through his head and stars swirling in his vision. The guard attempted to push himself up, but gasped as he had trouble breathing. His face was wet and sticky; he tasted blood in his mouth and he couldn’t breathe. But he couldn’t dwell on that; he could no longer hear the princess. He gathered his focus and looked to where he had last scene the girl fighting helpless against a giant claw, only to be more horrified as he saw it was no longer just a claw.

It was the Sorcerer from twenty years ago fully returned, a hellish cyclopean, horned bat creature; its great red eye making the stone wall with his likeness look like some failed attempt at true menace. The creature’s eye was focused on the girl lying limp within his claw. The guard did not know how, but he could see the hatred mixed with glee at the sight of the thing in its grasp.

Poe let out a blood curdling scream as charged towards the monster. Unarmed as he was, he could not allow this creature to hurt the princess any further! And if she was dead – oh goddesses if she was dead!

Yet the mage’s eye only stared in his direction as if bored, and another claw jutted from its spherical depths and went straight at Poe. But the guard did not care; he needed to get the princess! But the claw did not grab him, it only pointed at him. And then Poe realized he wasn’t moving. Aside from breathing, he was not moving. He could not move. With a great snarl, he began to yell profanities at the beast, threatening him with all the worst things he could possibly think to say.

“ _What a foul mouth_.”

Poe shut up. The words were unpleasant to hear; the words of a demon. He grit his teeth, helplessly feeling the sweat drip down his face.

“ _That’s better. I don’t much like to hear pointless chatter_.” Vaati said, his eye brimming with malicious contentment. Poe said nothing, though in actuality he wanted to say quite a bit. He just let the hatred in his gaze do all the talking for him. “ _Oh, yes… Yes, I know your type. I spent a great deal of time observing your breed of human. Let me guess, cats? Cats are always a popular choice if what I observed was anything to go by._ ”

“Go to hell.” He spat. Cats… It was just guessing about the cats.

“ _Oh yes, it would do to have a fellow like you under my orders._ ”

And just as Poe was about to tell the demon spawn to go back to hell, the very tip of its claw touched his forehead.

All of a sudden, the world was upside down, spinning all over the place. Things were… things were different. He felt the rush of the demon’s magic flow through him, electrify every single nerve within him. But he felt it most in his brain, as if tinkering this way and that way, changing things… making things… making things _better_. This demon was helping him see the light, so to speak; showing him that the life of mere guard was meaningless. What was the point when all he had wanted to do was cut things open, take pleasure in the suffering of those he hated – yes, this demon… no, not a demon. It was his _Master_.

He had full control of his body again. The claw that his Master had pointed to him was gone, retracted back into the unseen depths of a demonic vessel. He looked at the great red eye with wonderment and awe. He knelt down, lowering his head to the beast. “I am at your service, Master.” He sounded as if was a million miles away.

Vaati let a low rumble of laughter fill the air of the Shrine, taking delight at the creation of a thrall. Why he hadn’t done it before, he did not know! Right now he could tell the pathetic thing to fall on its own spear and it would so without hesitation. But no, that wasn’t why he gave the little worm the honor. “ _Tell me, thrall; what is this disgusting thing in my claw?_ ” He asked, referring to the unconscious girl in his hands.

“That is the Princess Zelda Ione Harkinian, Master. Sole heir to Hyrulean throne; daughter of the late Queen Zelda Harkinian and Prince-Regent Link Smith.” Poe explained thoroughly and dreamily.

“ _Really now?_ ” Vaati mused as he rolled the wrist of his claw, lolling the little girl this way and that. “ _This little thing is_ their _child?_ ” He honestly wasn’t sure whether he should be amused or disgusted. The Zelda that he had known had probably been no more than twelve or thirteen years old, yet looked as regal as her fool father. But _this_ Zelda looked the very opposite of a princess. But perhaps the most interesting thing about his thrall’s explanation… “ _Only daughter of the late Queen with a Link, you say?_ ”

“Yes, Master.” Poe replied obediently.

How interesting, the mage thought. How very interesting.

The mage gingerly placed the girl onto the ground, saying to his thrall, “ _Take the girl back home. If anyone asks what happened, make something up; kidnappers or some such nonsense. Make that broken nose of yours count for something._ ”

Poe stood and nodded, going to the princess and taking her up in his arms. He looked up to his Master and asked, “What if she remembers what just happened?”

The wind mage scoffed, “ _Pass it off as a bad dream; the overactive imagination of children. You can even make it coincide with whatever trash you spout to her father. Whatever the case, no one must know of my release._ ”

“Yes, Master. Shall I go now, Master?” Poe asked, half-lidded eyes still in the highs of his recent enthrallment.

“ _Yes, but one more thing._ ”

“Yes, Master?”

“ _Be this girl’s confidante; her best friend. This is your mission. It is a great one, and knowing your type, you probably won’t take kindly to it – but you shall do it. If you don’t-_ ”

“I would never, ever defy you, Master!” Poe quickly responded, the horror in his voice reflecting just how well the enthrallment went. “If that is my mission, I will do it without hesitation!”

Had Vaati had a mouth at that moment, his grin would have frozen the air around him. “ _Good. You may go now… and you will be hearing from me soon._ ”

With an incline of his head and a “Yes, Master,” the guardsman turned slave to Vaati, Sorcerer of Winds, walked off with the young princess in his arms. The mage was satisfied with his work. Not ten minutes after his release and he already had an even more wonderful plan than his original one of slowly killing that hateful child that sealed him in the terrible blade. All he had to do was make sure there was still some presence of himself on this blade…

And then everything would work out just fantastically.

* * *

Zelda awoke with a start, sitting up immediately and panting wildly. Covered in a cold sweat and deeply distressed, she silently sobbed into her hands.

She had the nightmare again. The one where she and Poe had gone to the Four Sword Shrine and the beast had grabbed her. With a shaking intake of breath, her sobs stopped. Some part of it, she knew, was real. She and Poe had gone to the Shrine, but there was no beast. Poe had told her that after they had left, anarchists had tried to kidnap her. All she could really remember was the bloody faced guard smiling at her and telling her everything was going to be all right.

There was no monster. And ever since she started checking on the Four Sword, the seal remained strong; and the voice that she thought she had heard those years ago was no longer there.

With a sigh, she lay back down, but she did not try to go back to sleep. That nightmare always deterred her from sleep, so all she did was stare up at the ceiling. It had to have been past midnight, she was sure. She always woke up from the nightmares past midnight; she remembered overhearing the maids speak to her father in concern about his daughter would wake in the wee hours of the morning. And if it was the next day…

 _It’s my birthday._ She thought to herself. She was seventeen. That information didn’t make her feel any older or wiser. It just made her feel silly for having the same nightmares since she was a child. She turned on her side curled up, wondering to herself if she’d ever be free of the nightmares.


	2. Chapter 2

Where had the time gone, Link wondered as he walked to the stables. Ione was seventeen; a year away from taking the throne. It had seemed like just yesterday she had been learning her first words and running around, causing a panic to all of the servants. The latter thought made him chuckle. Sometimes she still drove them a bit crazy – she could still be quite willful…

That was also what made him a bit apprehensive about the day.

As he entered the stables, hearing the whinnies of horses and the scuffling of the stable hands that had long grown accustomed to leaving the Prince-Regent to his business since he demanded no formalities, he wandered to the stall that demanded his attention most days. The mare that took residence in that stall whinnied happily to see him; he smiled at her and softly stroked her muzzle. “I hope everything goes well, girl. Hopefully you’ll help along with that, yes?”

“Daddy?”

Link turned to see his birthday girl and smiled. It was hard to believe the young woman he saw over at the end of the stables was the same little girl who loved to roll around in the mud so many years ago. That wild dirty blond hair had been so caked with dirt in her younger years, most never really noticed the slightest tints of red in the girl’s hair that was now groomed nicely, and hug up with a red bow. And he remembered how hard it was to get the little girl to wear “princess” dresses, yet here she was now looking almost like the picture of her mother at the same age. How had she grown so quickly? “Happy birthday, Ione.” He said with a smile.

The girl smiled back and rushed to her father to give him a hug. “Thank you, Daddy.”

“You’re supposed to thank me after I’ve given you your gift,” he teased lightly.

“Gift?” She pulled away and looked up at him excitedly.

He supposed some things would never change. “Yes; look in the stable.”

Zelda looked, then her blue eyes widened and she looked at her father with utmost shock. “Epona? B-but she’s _your_ horse!”

“And I know you love to sneak rides on her when you say you’re practicing embroidery,” he said good-humoredly. “She’s all yours.”

Despite an initial blush that said she’d thought she kept her truancy a secret, she tightly embraced her father again, excitedly saying, “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Daddy!” She pulled away and reached out to pet the mare happily, “Oh I wish I was in a riding gear to take her out right now!”

The apprehension came back. “Why don’t you go get changed? We can take a ride together.” Link suggested.

He’d barely suggested it before the girl rushed off. The stable hands laughed as they saddled Epona for Zelda and a stallion for him. The Prince-Regent was just glad that someone could see the amusement in the situation; all he could think of was of how all badly this could go. He had faith in his daughter and a reasonable and rational young lady, but like any good father, he worried if all that he had done for her was “right.” Link honestly had no idea what the conversation he would attempt to broach with her would yield.

Would she lose that smile? He’d been so busy in the past few weeks in forming the trade agreements with Holodrum, arranging for their ambassador’s visit, he’d barely seen her. And the added stress of trying to help the local militia locate the serial murderer _and_ keep it a secret from the general populace… He didn’t want their first real conversation after such a long while to be one that would grieve her. For both their sakes.

He knew that Potho’s successor, Cole, had called her Hyrule’s precious gem. It was a purely political thing, as Cole was the very opposite of Potho, being the picture of a heartless politician, but the people ate it up. Ione was a miracle child, a blessing from the goddess. As cheesy as it sounded, however, Link would admit that it was true.

He could still remember the terrible day as his wife was rushed to the birthing room. Men weren’t allowed in the room, only making the situation all the more tense for Link when all that he could hear was the woman he loved screaming in agony before a deathly silence fell. There was no screaming from a woman or a baby, only the frantic chatter of hushed voices from birthing room. He remembered thinking, _Tradition be damned_ , and running into the room to see the midwife manually moving his wife’s bloodied legs apart, while the tearful maids tried to rush him out. The picture in his mind of that moment still caused him an unending amount of grief. Zelda, his best friend, the love of his life… blue-lipped, pale and lifelessly staring at the ceiling. The world had seemed to crash around him, and he remembered pushing his way through the maids and wailing as he fell to his wife’s side, pleading to the goddesses desperately for this tragedy to be a lie. But the midwife told him to shut up, saying that still may have been a chance for the baby.

Oh that flicker of hope! He could only remember begging the goddesses further, if they could at least save his child… And they did. Despite the mother losing life, Ione was born, a perfectly healthy, wailing baby. A miracle.

Link would always think of her as such. A miracle in his life. The last remnant he’d had of his beloved Zelda and the love that they had shared. And it was always at his busiest times that he regretted not being able to give her as much attention as she deserved.

It went to show how excited Ione was when she had come back minutes later in her riding dress and the father-daughter pair rode off into Hyrule Field. The princess happily rode ahead of her father, only further making him recall the more carefree days of her youth.

Unable to catch up to the wily girl and her mare, Link didn’t even try to converse during their outing until it was time to water the horses. They sat down by the edge of the creek as the horses drank, and Ione took to looking at her reflection in the water. As his daughter began to redo her hair in the ribbon she’d become so fond of, he finally said, “Ione, you’re seventeen now.”

The girl’s smile shrunk slightly, “Yes.”

“… Next year, my regency will be revoked.”

The girl’s face became stoic; Link’s heart sank. “Yes…” She responded.

“I know it isn’t something that you like to think about; but the longer we put off discussing it, the harder it will be when the day comes.” He said gently.

Ione sighed, and nodded, “I understand, Daddy.” She said, sounding somewhat disheartened.

There was short pause before Link began, “You know, when your mother and I were young, she often snuck out of the castle to see me.” Ione looked at him, interest in his words clear on her face. “It was only with me did she have the chance to know what it meant to really be a child. So when…” he stopped, not wanting to be reminded of his wife’s death again for the second time that day, “When you came along, I said I would give you the chance to live your childhood as I did. It wasn’t a particularly liked idea, but I have no regrets. You’ve had a childhood every child ought to have. I think that, if anything, that works to your advantage. You’ve lived a normal life, gone to classes with others of your life, and you’ve had a sprinkling of your mother’s life, with private classes and etiquette… You’re the balance that Hyrule needs to continue to be prosperous.” He told her, looking at her fondly with pride.

The princess wasn’t sure what to make of those words. The idea that the kingdom would be fully her responsibility in a year was terrifying, but her father had such faith in her… Sensing her worry, her continued on, “And when you’re unsure of something, you always have me and Minister Cole to look to – yes, I know Cole isn’t a pleasant fellow, but he knows what he’s talking about.”

She’d made a face at the mention of Cole; she didn’t like him very much, but her father was right. Still, she couldn’t quite find the words to express her thoughts and feelings on all of this. Truthfully, Ione had hoped she wouldn’t be having this conversation until it was closer to her eighteenth birthday. But she could understand the importance of bringing up this up earlier, much as she just wanted to not think about it.

“But Ione… that isn’t what I really wanted to speak to you about.” There was a degree of discomfort in his voice, one that said even he didn’t seem to want to get into the next subject. The girl forked an eyebrow, finding it unusual that her father wasn’t getting straight to his real point. “The thing is… you’re seventeen… And,” his face scrunched up, “Technically… the age that… that young women are of age to be… to be courted… is fifteen.” He finished, looking as if he were saying the most horrible words to ever come from his mouth. Then again, he was a father. If it were up to him, his daughter would never get married.

Ione, however, did not really see why it was such a horrible prospect. No, in fact, she was confused. She knew as well as anyone else did that fifteen was the magical age where a girl was eligible to be courted, but she never really thought of it because there was no debutante ball for her advertising her eligibility, nor had any potential boyfriends seemed to want to spend much time with her. It damped her spirits quite a bit, but now that she was thinking of it, she realized that certain outside forces might have had something to do with it. Looking at her father, she had a fairly decent idea what that outside force was.

As if reading her mind, her father blushed and said, “I may have delayed your debut.”

While she was fine with her father being protective, she had to admit she wasn’t very fond of the measure of control he’d taken over her life. It made a lot of sense why the boys around her, with the exceptions of the guards, never seemed to want to spend much time around her. Who would dare try to court the daughter of the Prince-Regent, slayer of monsters and the man who defeated the great sorcerer from thirty years ago? No one, that’s who. Those that did usually seemed to change their minds within the next few days. In fact, she remembered last year she had the hugest crush on the son of a guardsman, Kasuto. He was an older boy and super handsome; he would often flirt with her and she began to spend more time with him than she even did with Poe. Within a month, his father had been stationed at Labrynna and he had to leave. “Daddy, how could you?!” She wailed.

Link’s lips were a thin, flat line, “I won’t anymore.” She crossed her arms and gave her father a skeptical look, but he continued on, saying, “I’m telling the truth. In realizing that next year you’re going to be taking the throne, I’ve also realized that… Well… Such a position is difficult to handle alone.”

The girl cocked her head to the side in a measure of puzzlement. “But I won’t be alone. You said it yourself, I’ll have you and Cole.”

Her father sighed, “Ione, even with us around, there will be times when you feel as if no one is there. Sometimes you need someone… different.”

She considered his words for a moment, looking back to the stream as if the water held all the answers. But the grinned that broad smile of hers and said excitedly, “All right then, Daddy,” he relaxed, but tensed up when he heard his daughter add, “ _But_ -” With a grimace, he nodded for her to continue, “But I want a proper deubt – the one I was supposed to get when I turned fifteen.” She stood up excitedly and spread her arms wide, “I want a big party with all of Castle Town invited! In fact, it should be in Castle Town, just like the Picori Festival!”

Link frowned at that. Inviting all of Castle Town was fine; Hyrule was a small kingdom with very few “courtly manners;” while there was still some royal tradition expected of the royal family, interaction between all walks of life was the norm – partly the reason why he was able to wed his Zelda so easily. He was born a commoner after all and, even with the title of Prince-regent, still identified himself as such . What concerned him was his daughter’s choice of venue. He hadn’t told her about the murderer… And a party… There would be so many people and so many places to remain unseen… If the murderer had another target, it might be his chance to strike again… He stood as well, approaching his daughter and gently saying, “Ione, I don’t think Castle Town is-”

But she stopped him and pointed an accusatory finger at him, “No, it’s going to be in Castle Town.” She said sternly. “I don’t see why the people have to leave the comfort of the town to have fun. Just because I’m a princess doesn’t mean they have to come to me; in fact, it even makes more sense that I should go to them.”

Flabbergasted by Ione’s logic, Link gave in. There was no arguing with her, his strong willed child. But while she made excellent points, and continued her tirade of planning as they rode back to the castle, the Prince-Regent refused to subject the people of Castle Town to any further danger. There was the option of telling Ione the truth, why he truly thought Castle Town was unsafe… but he did not wish to worry her. With an inward grimace, he planned the security in his mind. The guards would, unfortunately, not be getting a day off. All of them were reporting for duty. They needed to be on full alert during the celebrations just in case anything unfortunate were to happen.

* * *

 

Despite the cheery attitude that Zelda had while with her father, she was secretly quite distressed. She tried to be genuinely excited for the party she had suggested, even going so far as inviting the mayor to come to the castle that evening so she could discuss it with him. In a way, she knew that this party she was throwing for herself would probably be the last one she could genuinely enjoy without worrying how ambassadors from Holodrum might perceive it or how it would affect the economy of their small kingdom. It would be her last true ounce of freedom, since after that, she would have to focus on doing the best she could to make sure she could handle the kingdom.

After arranging for the meeting, she had taken to spending her time in the garden by one of the fountains. She waved her hand absently in the water, watching the disturbance of her fingers cause small swirls in the slowly flowing water. Sighing as she watched her warped reflection wavering in the water, she tried to consider the fact that thins wouldn’t be so bad. While it was true her father had been so busy lately, trying to expand the kingdom and build better relations with the neighboring countries, who was to say it was really so bad?

But her train of thought was disturbed as she noticed something odd in the reflections of the water. There was herself, the castle wall, the greenery of the flowering bushes but… It almost looked as if something was circling overhead, carefully avoiding causing shadows. Was it a bird? No… it was flying but, not like a bird. More like… a bat. Which she didn’t mind much; bats had been flying past her window for as long as she could remember. But it was broad daylight. With a puzzled pout, she went to look up.

“Princess!”

Zelda jumped a little, not having expected to hear Poe. He must have just gotten off of his shift. She looked to the maze of bushes to see her favorite guardsman coming over to her and carrying a cheese bun. Poe quickly approached and handed her the bun, “Happy birthday.”

She accepted it, “Thank you, Poe. You’ll never forget how much I love these, will you?”

“Of course not, Princess.” He said with a smile. Anyone who wasn’t Zelda might have thought seeing the hook-nosed guard smile looked kind of scary, but she knew he was as sweet a soul as there could be. The only reason he even had that hooked nose was because he’d saved her so long ago. “I heard your dad gave you, Epona,” he said, sitting on the grass before her. “I still can’t believe you can actually ride that wild thing.”

She chuckled and reprimanded him playfully, “She’s not a _thing_ ; she’s a beautiful, graceful mare. If you can’t even walk her from the stable it’s only because you don’t respect her as much as you should.”

The guard rolled his eyes. She knew he wasn’t much of an animal person.

She nibbled and the bun cheerfully, her spirits having raised now that her best friend was by her side. “Oh, and there’s going to be a celebration! I’m hoping it’ll be next week, but I need to sort the particulars with the mayor – I want it to be in Castle Town.”

“Party, huh? Eh, too bad your dad’ll probably have all us guards working.” Poe mused.

Zelda gave him a sympathetic smile. There were no breaks for the guardsmen during special events… though in all honesty, she’d noticed that most guardsmen hardly got any breaks anymore and her father seemed very tight-lipped as to why. She supposed she could always Poe why that was, but that just seemed like the sort of thing she needed to ask her father herself. … _After the party_ , she told herself. That was official business; no worrying about that until after the party, her last stint of freedom.

“Something the matter, Princess?”

Snapped out of her reverie and back to the present, she looked to her friend and tried to be cheerful, but failed. Finally, she decided if there was anyone to tell, it would be Poe. “I’m scared, Poe. In a year, I’ll have to take the throne. It seems like such a long time, but it’s really so short of a time.”

The guardsman just smirked, “That just means you have to live life to the fullest while you have it. Go crazy; do things you’d think twice about normally.” He said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

A musical chuckle escaped her lips, and for a moment she considered it. “Yes, I should! I should… I should take up fox hunting, or metal smithing – I imagine Daddy could teach me a thing or two about that. Or maybe I should do something truly outrageous and run away to Labrynna for a week!” _Maybe even find that Kasuto and give him a kiss_ , she thought with a playful blush. It’s not like her father could stop her now that he’d said he wouldn’t interfere in any potential love life she were to have. But she chuckled the thoughts out of her head, knowing she probably couldn’t do something as crazy as leaving the country for a day let alone week. With a sigh, the girl tilted her head thoughtfully and looked to her friend, “Did you do that before you became a guardsman?”

There was something in the guard’s expression, a gleam in his eyes that added a certain enigmatic quality to his smile. “Actually, I think I’m more alive now than I ever was before.”

She looked so hopeful for a moment, “Perhaps I can feel that way when I take the throne; I mean, I remember when you seemed so hesitant about being a guardsman.”

The guard pulled lightly on one of his straggly black locks, “Yeah, things certainly change.” Again, there was a quality about him as he said it that made him seem like he wasn’t telling all. She wondered what it was, but wasn’t about to pressure him to share. If he wanted to, he would. Evidently, he didn’t feel like it was important, as he ended up losing that far off look and saying carelessly, “But really, Princess, I wouldn’t think too hard about what the future might hold. Just enjoy life as it comes to you.”

She finished off the cheese bun and gave the guardsman a broad smile. “You’re absolutely right, Poe. Thank you.”

Looking as if his feathers had been preened to peacocking quality, he only responded with, “It just means I’m doing my job as a servant.”

The girl rolled her eyes. _Leave it to a guardsman to think like that._ “No, really, Poe. Even though I have friends in Castle Town and in the castle itself… thank you. You’re really the only one I can open to like this.” She said honestly.

The guard just gave her a prideful smile… which quickly dropped to one of utmost loathing as a voice rang out through the gardens calling, “Poe! Where are you, Poe?!”

“Dammit…” the man cursed.

“Oh, Poe, you didn’t skip work, did you?” Zelda asked her friend in a hushed whisper.

He had no time for any sort of response as he scrambled up just in time for a bearded guardsman to walk from the small hedge maze to them. The man grimaced at the sight of Poe with princess, “Poe! You were supposed to cover for Shiro, not… not _flirt_ with the princess just an hour after her father says she’s open to be courted!”

The younger guardsman slapped his own forehead, “Goddesses… Gibdo you’re being ridiculous. She’s like a _sister_.”

“We already have a sister!”

“Yeah, who _you_ drove away from the family!”

Zelda fidgeted as the guard brothers went back and forth then, talking about the runaway Ghini. She always felt strange around the two when they were like this, mainly because she was always put in the position of a spectator to some family drama. Then again, as long as she could remember, the two brothers never really got along. Gibdo always had the passion to be a guard, followed orders right to the letter and never broke a single rule, while Poe was the exact opposite in a lackluster attitude towards his work (but not when it counted, Zelda made sure to mentally add) and wasn’t above ‘bending’ the rules. From what she understood, the older brother actually pressured Poe into being a guardsman as well.

In the end, a very pride-beaten Poe was being dragged by the ear by his brother while she sadly waved him off.

And sometimes she wondered what it would be like if she’d had siblings…

Whatever the case, she was alone in the garden again. As she let out a sigh, she remembered the bat she saw flitting around overhead. She looked up, seeing what she had expected: nothing. The bat probably wandered back off to its next after having accidentally flitted off or something. She knew there was a nest of bats somewhere nearby, despite all the servants and guards saying that the only bats nearby were the keese in the Minish Woods. Only Poe seemed to know anything about the bats she spoke of, but he always assured her they were friendly and wouldn’t cause her harm. Nothing had ever happened to prove him wrong, either.

She laughed then, remembering one time when she was small even going so far as to try and catch one of the bats. Zelda could remember telling Poe all of her plans to catch them, and the guard would just laugh at her and tell her, “These bats are different from ordinary bats – they’re really hard to catch. Not that you need to catch one,” then he’d scruff up her buzzard’s next of a head and finish off with a, “One day, those bats are going to be real friendly with you.”

 _What goes through that guard’s head_ , she wondered then. A bat was a bat; it would fly and shy away from humans unless a human were to feed it… And these bats were strange in the fact that in all her years of trying to coax them to get near her, the never once took any food she offered. Even food she left out remained untouched. So she was fairly certain the guard had his head up in the clouds when he said they would be friendly with her.

Then something seemed to zap through her head; a sense of wrongness that made her stand abruptly and nearly retch. She was still clutching at her stomach when the feeling suddenly left, leaving her feeling helpless… and disturbingly nostalgic. She’d felt this sensation before. When she was just a child and unspoken words seeped into her head, trying to trick her, a memory that always changed in her nightmares, when she’d felt it as a malicious, black claw swept her from the ground and squeezed her with slow, crushing force.

Just the mere remembrance of the nightmare caused her knees to buckle a whimper escape from her lips. She knew what the feeling was, she knew what it meant. Something had to be wrong with the seal on the Four Sword…

Princess Zelda was terrified.

If there was something wrong with the sword, then it was her duty as her mother’s successor to check and rebuild the seal if necessary. And something was wrong with it, she just knew it. That feeling of horrid menace…

The monster was not real, she had told herself in the early hours of the morning… She released the shuddering breath she had hitched in her throat and slowly stood up. _But the monster_ is _real…_ She clenched her hands into fists, a fire coming into her eyes. _And I have to make sure it doesn’t get out_.

Zelda gave no warning to anyone; she saddled Epona herself and rode off to the Sanctuary. It was customary usually to have at least two or three guardsman or her father with her when she went to the Shrine, but she had to do this alone. That sense of wrongness that so reminded her of her nightmares… if she didn’t do this alone, she would never see relief from those horrid dreams. She had to face it and contain it, or else this fear would own her. She’d been known as a strong-willed fearless girl for a reason, and shed be damned if she was going to let something as silly as a child’s nightmare get the better of her!

Never mind the fact that the content of the nightmare was as real as she was and just waiting for a crack in its seal so that it could break free and wreak havoc on the populace.

But she had to do this alone… and if she could come back quickly before anyone noticed, all the better when she announced what she had done by herself. Proving that she was capable… That she was not just some wild child…

 _Hah… my last week of freedom has barely started and I’m already taking on serious responsibility._ She thought bitterly as her horse galloped through the dirt beaten path. But this was also incredibly personal, she justified. Trade with Holodrum was business; Vaati was family history _and_ the source of bad memories and nightmares.

As she saw the clearing in the woods that lead to the Shrine, she was becoming increasingly more aware of the fear in her mind growing as the horse continued to gallop forward. But upon reaching the stones of the Shrine, the mare abruptly came to a stop with a protesting whiny, and had the princess not been holding so tightly to her steed in anxiety, she may have fallen off. Zelda pursed her lips, noting how the horse only seemed to be comfortable when her hooves were completely off the stone floor and back on the dirt path.

She dismounted the mare, staring at her mare’s rusty coat for a long moment before taking a shuddering breath to gather her courage and walk forward.

Given Epona’s reaction to the stone floor of the Shrine, the girl had expected that her first step onto the stones might provoke something as well. But there was nothing. She did not re-experience the surging sensation of malicious intent towards her or feel anything aside from normal… or as normal as the Shrine usually got. Still on edge, she continued to step forward slowly. Everything in the area was unnaturally quiet. It always was. There were never birds or squirrels in the place. The only movement was that of the wind blowing the trees, and currently the only sound was of Zelda’s nervous, quick breaths, her own steps, and the nervous mares movements just outside the Shrine proper.

Content that everything in the surroundings was more or less normal, Zelda was able to continue towards the actual Four Sword with a bit more confidence in her stride. She tried to focus on the blade itself and not on the mural on the wall behind it. The mural reminded her all too much of the beast from her nightmares, and, while she was doing her best to fight off the sense that she needed to high tail it out of there, she didn’t want to face that just yet.

Still, she had calmed significantly when she had reached the step leading to the dais with the pedestal that contained the Sword. She let her magical senses probe at the blade, poking and prodding it in attempts to find any weakness or cracks within the seal on the Four Sword.

There was nothing.

She rechecked the blade two more times and came up with the same answer. Absolutely nothing was wrong with the seal since she last checked on it over a month ago. There were no weaknesses to the seal, no little cracks… Perfectly intact in every way.

Stunned, Zelda took a step backward. _How is this possible?_ She thought to herself. How could she have felt what she had felt earlier if the seal was perfectly intact? Had she just been imagining things? She had to have been… but how could something she just imagined be powerful enough to send her to what she thought was the source of that power. The girl knitted her brows, trying to figure what was happening; if anything was happening at all. She frowned, walking back towards Epona deep in her thoughts. She paused, looking back over her shoulder at the Four Sword. But her gaze went beyond the blade and to the mural in the back, at the upwards glancing eye. A shudder went up her spine, and she decided that she had to leave. Quickly.

She rode Epona back to the castle stables, leaving the hands to tend her mare while she absently found herself walking back to her room. The princess paced back and forth anxiously. What she had felt was real, she knew it… But did that mean there was something else in Hyrule giving her this feeling? No… no, she could still remember the vemon laced voice that had called to her as a child when the seal was weakening… it was the same feeling. But _how_? The more she thought of it, the angrier and more confused she became. She would need to tell someone… Should she tell her father? But he was so busy these days…

A knock at her door made her do a tiny jump in surprise. Resting her hand over her heart and sighing, she called, “Come in.”

A short red-headed man with beady little eyes in a hideous suit opened her door, “Princess. The mayor of Castle Town is here; he says you have a meeting with him.” He said somewhat disinterestedly.

That’s right… The party at Castle Town. “Thank you, Cole; tell him I’ll see him in a minute.” She said. But Zelda wasn’t quite sure how she could talk about anything so normal as that when something very _ab_ normal was devouring her mind. As the minister left to relay to her message, she’d come to the conclusion that she would have to tell someone. She’d tell Poe. She could rely on him. Her father didn’t need to be bothered with such things…


	3. Chapter 3

After Zelda had spoken with the Mayor and gotten arrangements for the party done, she had found Poe patrolling one of the castle walls and told him what she had experienced earlier. The guard listened intently, but seemed to have no outward reaction to her story. When she’d concluded, he remained silent, apparently thinking over his next words, the finally came out with, “That’s definitely something.”

She grimaced, “Oh Poe, please tell me you believe me!” She said in a hushed whisper. Technically, the guardsman was on duty; she shouldn’t have been disturbing him, no matter how important she thought it was.

“I do believe you, but I’m not really sure what to say. This isn’t exactly my area of expertise, Princess.” The guardsman confessed with a shrug. “Why not go to your dad about this?”

“I couldn’t Poe!” She exclaimed nervously, “He’s already dealing with so much and… if he finds out that I went to the Shrine by myself… I’m not supposed to go unattended, he’ll be furious!” She wasn’t sure she was exaggerating, but she knew her father would definitely not be happy. Then again, telling him any part of the situation, even skipping over her impromptu visit to the Shrine, would have him fairly upset.

“All right, calm down,” Poe said quickly to her as he noticed she seemed to be getting closer to a panic.

She took a deep breath, and after gathering herself she miserably said, “It felt like my nightmare, Poe.”

Puzzled, the guardsman asked, “Nightmare? The one with Vaati?” She nodded glumly, and he responded with a somewhat insensitive sounding, “You still have those?”

She said nothing, partly because she was a bit mad at him for dismissing the nightmare so readily and partly because she was embarrassed. A seventeen year old girl still with childish nightmares. In a hushed outburst, she defended it by saying, “It always feels real so real! It starts off like when we went to the Shrine those years ago, but then I don’t listen to you as you say we should leave and I… I touch the Sword and then I feel the life being crushed out of me… It’s terrible…”

Poe’s face twisted in thought, before he hesitantly put a hand on the worried girl’s shoulder and said, “All right, didn’t mean to sound like a jerk… Just, I haven’t heard you saying things like since you were like… ten or something.” She looked up at him, smiling a sad smile. The guardsman went on to say, “Again, I’m not saying I don’t believe you, but I heard somewhere that sometimes really bad nightmares like that can affect a person when they’re still awake.”

While her expression became defensive again, she said nothing immediately. She’d had the nightmares for so long and they never affected her like this… but who was to say that after so long they couldn’t get worse. They certainly hadn’t gotten better or not as bad – they were still just as horrifying as when she’d first had them, if not worse. Was it so far-fetched to believe that the dreams worsening could actually affect her in her waking hours? “It feels so real, though…”

“I never said it wasn’t real,” Poe added. The girl again remained quiet, not sure what to make of the guardsman’s words. But the guard, in his awkward way, tried to be reassuring, “Hey, look, don’t worry too much about it. For now, focus on that party of yours; keep your mind off of it. If it ends up happening again, then keep it quiet and you tell me. We’ll go investigate it together.”

This had just happened once; it might have been the after effects of a nightmare… If it happened again, then she would worry. And then she would have Poe to help her figure it all out. She took a deep breath and let it out. Though her brow was furrowed in some measure of doubt, she finally nodded in agreement.  “Yes; that’s a good idea, Poe. Thank you.”

The guardsman smiled at her. “I’m only doing my job as a servant.”

* * *

 

A day later, an apprehensive Zelda awaited the recurrence of that repellent feeling. It never came. Three days later, she had the hope that Poe was absolutely right. When a full week had passed, she was confident that her friend was correct and it was just a cruel prank on her by her subconscious. And two weeks after the experience, with festivities fully planned, she couldn’t wait for the celebration at Castle Town.

She and the mayor had met regularly and arranged for the local musicians to play, games for all ages, dancing; even her father pitched in to help, managing to convince the long feuding vegetable and fruit sellers to make peace and provide snacks for all. The Lon Lon ranchers were also coming, as well as the Gorons in the nearby caves and the last remaining members of the Wind Tribe.

She arrived at Castle Town in the afternoon to cheers and birthday wishes. Zelda happily greeted and thanked everyone that came up to her, before a daring boy from the town swooped her away for a dance. She imagined she had to have danced with everyone, from Old Man Swiftblade to his preteen grandson Swiftblade the something or other number she couldn’t remember, from her old school mate Mina to a little Wind Tribe girl that liked to zig zag around with her little blue cape.

Eventually, the tables were finally all put together and everyone sat down and enjoyed meat from Lon Lon Ranch with both fruits and vegetables from the temporarily peaceful produce vendors. The sun was beginning to set, but the celebration wasn’t done. Her father stood and gave a rather embarrassing speech of how much she’d grown and how proud he was of her, to which the townsfolk all clapped and laughed; the Wind Tribe went ahead and performed acrobatic feats; and the Gorons went ahead and tried to teach the townsfolk their own traditional dances; she even caught sight of Malon, the woman who owned Lon Lon Ranch, and her father speaking _very_ amiably to each other (she couldn’t help but giggle at it). And as shades of blue descended in the sky, the happy residents of the town began to tire and simply huddle together and speak of the day’s festivities over Chateau Romani.

Zelda found it had to have been one of the best birthday celebrations she’d ever had. The soft glow of lantern light filling the streets of Castle Town, emphasizing the already warm attitudes of the people of the town… She found herself thinking that maybe taking the throne wouldn’t be so scary, not when it meant she had such a strong support group in the whole of the small kingdom.

She always had some sort of crowd around her it seemed, making it awkward when she declared she needed a moment alone for the “facilities.” It was certainly enough to let her go freely, and much as she enjoyed all the company around her, she was rather glad that she was going to manage to get some alone time just for a few minutes. As she had begun to make her way back to the town square, she spotted a familiar face.

“Mr. Gibdo? You’re still working!? You’ve been here since the celebration first started!” She exclaimed in shock.

Upon hearing the princess’s words and seeming rather surprised that she paid any attention at all to him, he simply gave her a smile that reflected his tired looking visage. “It’s all in the job, Princess. We’re all on high alert, right now.”

She frowned, though she didn’t push it. The girl imagined it had something to do with whatever it was her father had been trying to hide from her. _I’ll have to ask him about that tomorrow_ , she reminded herself. “It’s still rather unfair. I hope you’re all getting paid extra for this at the very least.” She said firmly.

The elder guardsman chuckled, but apparently had no real response to it. The silence that followed was a bit strange to Zelda because of that. She was on such friendly terms with this man’s brother yet she could a barely hold a conversation with him. Perhaps sensing the discomfort, he managed to say, “Sorry, Princess.”

Confused, she asked, “Huh? Whatever for?”

“That you always have to catch Poe and me fighting. I imagine it isn’t a pleasant thing to watch; and I certainly think it’s very inappropriate to air out our problems in front of you like we always do.” Gibdo said with a mixture of awkwardness and genuine apology.

She certainly hadn’t expected anything like this; then again, to be fair, she didn’t know what to expect from Gibdo since she didn’t know him so well. Zelda gave him a small smile, “Apology accepted… but you know Poe really doesn’t flirt with me.”

The older guardsman seemed a bit embarrassed, but nodded and conceded, “I know, Princess, and I’m sorry those words ended up coming from my mouth… Truthfully, I just never know what my little brother is up to anymore. You probably know him the best out of anyone in the kingdom, honestly…” She took note of how sad he sounded as he said it. The princess couldn’t help but feel sorry for the elder brother at that time. She knew he meant well for Poe, even though Poe himself didn’t seem to care. It was… unfair, she supposed. But she wasn’t one to judge, she supposed, as she had no siblings.

Before she could come up with a response, a young man turned the corner and brightly called out to her, “There you are, Princess! The last dance of the night before everyone goes home is going to start!”

“Oh, I’ll be right there!” She called out before looking back to Gibdo and apologetically saying, “I’m sorry, Mr. Gibdo, I have to go… But I would like to talk to you again when you and Poe aren’t fighting.”

And then she rushed off, the boy nervously asking her then if she would perhaps have the final dance with him, before another boy came about and told the princess to forget about that boy and dance with him. She laughed, proclaiming she’d dance with them both, and Gibdo couldn’t help but smile as the cheery princess’s voice faded. She really was a lovely girl, if not a bit fiery. He was glad his brother had a friend in her…

At the town square, Zelda happily took the hands of the boys who’d wished to dance with her and spun happily with them to the last lively song the local band played. The Prince-Regent rose for a minute, the look in his eyes saying he didn’t much like those town boys even touching his daughter; but the mistress of Lon Lon Ranch grabbed the man by the shoulder and forced him to sit back down while giving him a reproving look.

As Zelda laughed and spun with her two dance partners, more people decided to join in, mostly those of the princess’s age. Her last night of freedom, dancing and having fun with those of her own age in a completely carefree way. Nothing could ruin the moment for her.

Except for a stabbing, nauseating mental assault of wrongness.

It was more painful than before; the throbbing so strong in her mind that her vision whited out and she staggered backwards, tripping over the hem of her dress and letting out a shout fueled with fear and disgust. Everything was so bright and she couldn’t see – what had happened? What had she been doing? She felt something grab at her shoulders, and in a panic squealed and tried to bat the hands off of her. But colors and shapes began to hazily return, and she recognized the green of her father’s tunic. While her hands still tried to fight him off, he did relax. She could hear so many voices, but they all sounded melded and foreign, blurring together in a dull roar of incomprehensible nonsense. The round beneath her seemed to vanish, and then she realized that she was being carried.

The world eventually stopped spinning, but there was still the nagging sense of wrongness lulling her senses. As her father carried her, she could only manage to somewhat focus on his face, sunken with worry and hair looking greyer in the pale light of the moon. When did her father get so old? Raspy words eventually crawled from her lips, “Daddy… what happened…?”

“You would have to tell me, Ione…” The words came out in frustrated worry, “But not now. We’re going home now.”

“B... but what about-”

“Cole is taking care of crowd control; don’t worry about it,” Link responded quickly, a tremble in his voice.

The princess wanted to say more, but her mind jumbled again and the words would not form. In her clearest thoughts, she had known what occurred; but even with that knowledge she couldn’t remember what she had told herself she would do if it ever happened again.

Mentally drifting in and out, she hadn’t become aware of her surroundings up until her father had laid her down somewhere, saying he’d be right back and was getting the physician. Moments later, after her father was gone, she managed to take in enough to recognize she was in her room and on her bed. She attempted to sit up, but she felt so heavy that she gave up easily. But with her head slightly propped up a bit on her twin layers of pillows, the princess had a view of the garden doors that led to her small balcony. She saw something small and black fluttering onto the balustrade, as if watching her.

For some reason, the bat was disturbing her.

But with the throbbing in her head, she knocked the thought aside and tried to focus on perhaps drifting off. She managed it, only to be woken when her father brought in the doctor, an old man that looked far too thin to make anyone comfortable with him as a doctor. However, she wasn’t in the right mind to be thinking about that, and she simply answered the doctor’s questions and acquiesced to his requests as best she could. The doctor eventually nodded, then said to Link, “She seems to be in a state of shock; her mind’s numb and she can’t think all that clearly, but physically, she seems to be fine. Whatever came upon her seems to have worn off rather quickly.”

“But what happened?!” Asked a frustrated Link who was having a hard time keeping his voice down.

“I’m afraid I can’t say,” she heard the doctor say hesitantly. “Her color and temperature are fine; I rather doubt its anything related to sickness or allergy. She’s clammy, but after what she seems to have experienced, I don’t blame her… It could be something…” The doctor’s voice hushed for a moment. Her father didn’t respond, but the doctor would continue on in his normal tone, “It’s been said the Royal Ladies are much attuned to supernatural phenomena. I wouldn’t be surprised if something negative took her off guard during such a positive occasion… If not that, the only thing I can think of is perhaps some sort of mental stress. All I can recommend…”

And the doctor’s words faded into mumbles as she began to drift off, the vision of the doctor and her father conversing blurring into some weird splotch, as if a painter was half completed with his work. All she could catch the gist of was that she was to be kept an eye on…

Eye.

All she could see now was the upwards gazing eye in the Four Sword Shrine. And that was how a new nightmare began. No longer was she a little child because crushed by a great demon, she was as she was at that very moment in time. She was standing in front of the Four Sword, her focus torn between the Sword and the mural in the back. Nothing was happening. And that nothing was frightening her more than the dream of being swept up and squeezed ever dead. Here, she was simply left with dread anticipation, knowing the beast in the blade was fighting to get out constantly.

She could feel its power tickling at her senses in the dream, occasionally sending another surge of pain through her mind as soon as she thought nothing really was happening. It was a horrible dream about the battle of wills, hers versus the wind demon… And as the nightmare kept going, she felt her resolve fading. The tickling at her senses now became almost a series shoves; she backed away from the blade, almost cringing. She felt… so helpless. There was nothing she could do; her magic wasn’t as trained as her mother’s, and her father, Gibdo, Poe, or the other guards weren’t around to protect her…

And that’s when the beast would burst from the Sword.

Zelda shot up, a wail half caught in throat. She was delirious, unsure of where she was and what was going on; she wildly looked around her room, seeing things that should have been so familiar but now looked so foreign. But when her eyes landed on her balcony and she saw the bat on the balustrade, a fury she couldn’t describe came over her. The princess wildly threw herself from her bed, grabbed a vase of flowers resting on a cabinet, thrust the garden doors open and threw he vase at the horrid little creature. It flew off without so much of a sound before the vase even came close to it, and all the girl could do as tears sprung to her eyes was wildly try to catch sight of it in the darkness. But she lost it, and the horror of her recent nightmare hit her full force and sent her to her knees, sobbing.

Everything came back to her then. She remembered the party, how all was so fine… and then the terrible pain. Her crying stopped, and while she still shivered with the effects of a heavy, dirty weep, she couldn’t help but wonder if her most recent nightmare had anything to do with this pain. Perhaps there really was something wrong with the Four Sword… Her stomach knotted up, knowing that it was her job to make sure the seal was strong. She must have missed something before…

The nightmare revisited her for a moment, giving her the prospect of her losing her battle of wills with Vaati. But she pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, her inner fire rekindling. She would not lose. She could not lose.

 _I need to find Poe._ She thought, remembering the agreement she and her friend had come to.

She had grabbed a cloak and quietly opened her door. The lanterns were out in the halls, telling her it was fairly late at night. She had to be careful, though; if anyone caught the sight of her, they’d alert her father for sure after what had happened a few hours ago. She could not be rushed back to bed right now.

Zelda didn’t have to look far as she carefully treaded the hall. Right at the end she found her guardsman friend slumped over against the wall and snoring softly. _Such a lazy excuse for a guardsman!_ She thought with some irritation, trying to ignore thoughts that he’d essentially been working nonstop for nearly and couldn’t really blame him for dozing off. She knelt down and shook him quickly, whispering, “Poe, wake up!”

It then occurred to her that perhaps waking up a dozing guardsman in such a manner was not a good idea. Before she could quite figure out what had happened, the guard’s hand was clamped over her mouth and the blade of a knife pressed against her neck. There was a ferocity in the guard’s eyes that she’d never seen that frightened her. But upon recognizing who it was he had threatened so quickly, his expression became one of panic as he quickly placed the knife back in his boot. “I am _so sorry_ ,” he wheezed in fear. With a stifled squeal he whispered hoarsely, “Goddesses he’s going to _kill_ me – and I’ll deserve it too!”

But she quickly shushed him and said gently, “Don’t worry, Poe, my father won’t find out, and it was my fault for-”

“No, no, no not-” But Poe paused in his frustration, looked at the girl and calmed down, saying, “Ah, never mind, Princess… But you’re all right, right?”

“Yes, Poe… I mean, no, but not because of that.” She said in a hasty whisper. She continued quickly afterward, not giving him a chance to respond, “Earlier today when I… when I fainted… Do you remember what we spoke of a while ago? It… it happened again. It’s why I fainted.”

The guardsman’s expression went stoic. “The seal?”

She nodded, “I want to go there…”

“Now?”

She nodded, “Yes, now. It has to be now, it can’t wait! The pain was so excruciating, something _has_ to be wrong Poe.” She said desperately. He stood up quickly, offering the princess his hand. She smiled at him gratefully and took the hand. “Thank you…”

“Let’s go, Princess.”

And go they did. Zelda had saddled Epona herself, and even took the time to saddle a separate horse for Poe. The man could ride, she knew, though not very well and he certainly didn’t know how to saddle a horse. But as she rode off on Epona, she paid no attention to how well the guardsman was following her. Her one track mind was in place and it was telling her the Shrine awaited. There would be no more crying and cowering – she was going to _end_ this. So focused was she on getting to her destination, she did not notice the lagging guard behind him or the bat that flew alongside him. She certainly wasn’t hearing him having a furtive conversation with it either.

As before, Epona froze at the stone floor of the Shrine. Zelda did not push the mare forward, but simply dismounted and impatiently waited for Poe to stumble in with his horse. As soon as she saw him, she started forward to the Shrine. She tried not to note how reminiscent the situation was to the last time she was there in that nothing felt out of the ordinary. But she did stop for a moment and stare up at the open sky, her brows furrowing in concern at the sight of bats circling around the area. It was the first sign of life she’d seen in this place… And she wasn’t sure she liked seeing bats.

 _I don’t think I like them anymore…_ She thought to herself. Bats seemed to be all too common around her bad situations, it seemed. But she shook herself out of the unsettling thought, telling herself again that bats were just bats. She took a breath and walked forward to the Sword, glad the starlight didn’t offer enough light to view the mural in the back. Extending her magical senses to the Sword, she was prepared to deal with a glaring crack or full on breakage within the seal.

But as before, there was nothing. She stepped back in horror, staring at the Sword in disbelief. Seeing her quick motion, she heard Poe asked from behind, “What is it, Princess?”

She didn’t answer right away. What could she say? That it looked like she was going crazy? That she was getting these surges of wrongness through her mind that drove her into fainting spells because of some ridiculos fear she’d had since she was a child. Again, she stared at the blade. There had to be something. There just had to be something! Maybe not on the the actual magical seal but…

And then she noticed… something dark on the blade. It wasn’t obvious. It was just a slight stain on the edge of the blade… Zelda cautiously stepped forward, ignoring Poe asking again if everything was all right. She was sure of it, there was something on the sword. She extended her hand to it, tying to forget her old nightmare, where her touch released the beast… In the dream, it had been because she wanted to release the beast. In theory, it shouldn’t work now. Her intention was to seal… to figure out what was wrong and fix it.

Her index finger hovered nervously over the stain before quickly sliding it down the stain and pulling it back. It was liquid, she could tell. Her finger slid on it so easily. But in the darkness, she could not tell what it was. It was colored… dark. And that alone sent a shudder up her spine. A liquid on the blade of a sword… She certainly was glad she wasn’t squeamish…  But this was the Four Sword. It hadn’t been removed from the pedestal in thirty years. Why would there be blood on it?

Had a bat gotten too close perhaps…?

But she couldn’t justify it. The bats overhead flew normally, and if this probable bat died from its wound, where was the body? And the more she looked at the stain on her finger, the surer she became that it was blood…

Did this mean something?

That was a stupid question. Of course it did. Blood didn’t just end up on static objects by itself.

The most concerning possibility that she’d tried to avoid thinking about came to the forefront of her mind, then. The blood could have been left on purpose. It didn’t feel warm or fresh, but it was still wet. It could have been cleaned easily, there was certainly time. Surely whoever had left it there would have cleaned it up after all. And why would anyone do such a thing? Were they trying to release Vaati with some sort of blood sacrifice or something of the like? If it were possible, she might have thought it concerning. Only she or her father could release him; that was just the way it was… Though she’d like to know how those specifics were found out, now that she thought of it.

Regardless, the biggest question in her mind was who could have left the blood behind? Was it human? Non-human? Did this even relate to the pain she’d felt earlier in the night? _It has to_ , she thought. She simply couldn’t think why those surges of pain had never occurred before.

“Princess?” Poe’s voice finally came into her hearing. He sounded very anxious.

“Oh… I’m sorry, Poe…” She apologized, turning and making her way back to the guardsman and the horses. Nothing was wrong with the seal. There was only the question of the blood and what it might have possibly meant. She could leave for the time being, to think further on this.

“Are you sure? Did something happen?” He asked her as she mounted Epona.

Zelda considered for a moment to tell him what she had encountered, but decided against it. Poe may have been her best friend, but he was also still in her father’s charge just as much as he was in hers. She wanted to be sure of anything she had found out before reporting to her father, and she’d ate it if Poe were put into a corner and forced to speak. It was better he didn’t know for the time being, much as the thought pained her. “Don’t worry, Poe,” she said in false cheer, “Everything is fine.” It was a lousy lie; even she knew it, but her friend did not push it.

They rode back, silently and in much less of a rush than they had been previously. The princess was so consumed in her own thoughts, that when they had returned to the stable, she dismounted the horse, gave Poe a thanks for escorting her in the middle of the night, and headed back to the castle without unsaddling Epona leaving Poe and his own steed behind. A smirk came upon Poe’s face as he sloppily unsaddled his own horse and lead it back to its stable. He looked at Epona, and the wild mare snorted unhappily at him.

“You want me to take that off of you?” He asked the mare, who whinnied indignanatly. Whether it knew his words or not, he didn’t really care. “No can do, Bessie; you’re staying just like that until morning.” Poe said with malicious cheer as he exited the stable. Nope. As far as everyone else knew, it was only Epona that had been taken out for the night. What a rogue, wild princess Zelda was, after all.

Even though the princess, at that moment, was not feeling her fiery self at all. She was more confused than before, and not sure what to make of the blood she’d found on the Four Sword. She carefully wound her way through the halls to avoid the sight of any guard on patrol, trying not to think about the blood that had been on her finger but had now since been wiped away. Yet she could still feel the remnants of it tickling the tip of her finger. Who or what did it belong to…? Even as she reached her door, the thought was prominent in her mind. She simply could not make sense of everything that was happening. Surely it had to be connected…?

She needed sleep. A proper sleep, Zelda decided. Stripping down and then putting on her nightclothes, the princess told herself she would do her best not to think of frightening things or anything that might keep her up for what was left of the night. Perhaps she would begin a book, something cheerful? That seemed like the best option. She had begun to make her way to her bookshelf when she caught sight of something on her balcony through the garden doors.

Last time she looked through the doors, she had seen a bat. But there was no bat there. No… now, where the bat had been, there was something else. Curious, she opened up the garden doors and reached the balustrade.

It was a book. One she’d never seen before. How it got there, she had no idea. She had locked her garden doors before she had left; she’d hated the idea of leaving her room open to bats, even if they didn’t have the opposable thumbs to open it. And her room was up on the high floors of the castle. No one could enter form the outside… For a moment, she panicked, wondering if perhaps someone had come in while she was gone and left it. But if that was the case, why leave it outside or not report the missing princess?

More confusion to add to an already puzzling night… Yet her fingers caressed the front cover of the book, leather that had been softened with age. She picked up the book, looking at the blank spine and wondering perhaps if this was some book of old magic. She flipped open the soft cover, and then skimmed through the passages in the book… only to see it wasn’t a book of magic. It was a story book; a narrative of some sort. And honestly, the girl wasn’t sure if that made this more or less nonsensical. Turning the pages back, she finally rested on the title page.

“ _Eros and Psyche_.” She read aloud in a soft mumble. She’d never heard those names before. They definitely weren’t Hylian. She touched the names, as if it would somehow help her understand these non-native names, yet as she did so, she noticed that something felt as if it was wedged between the pages. She flipped over to the next page and then discovered that something was, in fact, wedged in between the pages. A small note card. She took the card, noting the unfamiliar handwriting on it. It wasn’t any special, as far as handwriting went. It wasn’t the childish scrawl of her father’s or the flowery, loopy lines of Minister Cole. It was legible and short. Only saying, “Happy Birthday, Princess Zelda.” There was no name. She turned the card around in hopes that she might find one, but was left just as bewildered as before.

She closed the book and turned it around in her hands, then flipped through the pages again. Even probing at it with her magic told her nothing was out of the ordinary; just leather, ink, and paper. Its placement was undoubtedly a mystery, though she supposed the book could have been there before and she’d simply mistaken where she’d found it to be the same place she’d seen a bat. Perhaps a gift from a maid too shy to hand it to her herself? And she had been looking for a book to take her mind off of things…

 _No harm in it_ , she thought. _There’s nothing malicious here. Just a book._ And with those thoughts deciding the fate of the book in her hands, she headed back into her room, closing and locking the garden doors behind her before she lay down in her bed, and opened the book up to its first page.


	4. Chapter 4

“Epona was saddled?” Link asked.

“Yessir,” the stableboy nodded, “She was pretty spooked too. Dunno what happened…”

The prince-regent’s brow was furrowed. “Did you see Ione at all?”

“No, sir. Only thing that says she was here was the horse; only you or her can manage her, and her hooves are all scuffed – she was out last night.” The stableboy reiterated.

Link glanced over at the stall, where the mare he’d gifted to his daughter seemed to be sleeping off her ordeal from her unexpected ride the night before. Ione had snuck out of the castle during the night… He might have asked why, but he recalled the physician’s words.

“ _It could be something regarding the Seal… Her mother would often suffer headaches when the Seal weakened, and the history of the royal family is littered with prophecies from the Royal Ladies. It’s been said the Royal Ladies are much attuned to supernatural phenomena._ ”

So had Zelda gone to the Shrine by herself during the middle of night? Why hadn’t she told him? Why hadn’t she told anyone else?

“Thank you for telling me, Fado. Enjoy a few extra jelly tarts on me if you pass by the kitchens.” He told the boy, who smiled broadly at him and gave him a thank you. He’d run off to the kitchens before the Prince-Regent could ask if the boy might know where Ione was at that moment, but Link shrugged it off, knowing he could ask anyone where the princess might have been.

Reentering the castle to see if she might have still been in her rooms, he found them deserted. He then asked a nearby maid, and she responded with, “Your daughter, ser… I think I saw her earlier carrying your bow; she’s most likely to be at the archery range with that, right, ser?”

He couldn’t remember the last time she’d taken his bow. He remembered her seeing it one day and picking it up, excitedly asking him to teach her. And he did, and she had a knack for it – a much better instinct with her aim than he ever had, he was sure. But she always was a bit flighty in her hobbies, and soon after she’d taken up something else and left the bow. With the drama from the night before and the doctor’s explanation, hearing that she’d taken his bow again didn’t make him feel any better.

Link made his way out of the castle grounds and towards the archery range for the guards. It was easy to catch sight of Ione, since she was the only one in a dress as well with a long, flowing ponytail of strawberry blond hair. No one paid much mind to him as he approached, and he was even able to witness a younger guardsman trying to impress Ione, only for her to show him up and send him off embarrassed. He almost puffed his chest out in pride, but as he walked up next to her, he could tell from her concentrated expression as she nocked an arrow that she was not in the best of moods. Link was fairly certain she was aware of him too, but she hadn’t greeted him or acknowledged him in the slightest.

After she loosed an arrow, which would hit the center of the target perfectly, he asked, “How are you feeling today, Ione?”

She had been aiming her arrow, and for a moment, she looked like a statue. But after a moment, she lowered the bow and drew the arrow out. She did not face her father, but still kept her eyes on the target yards away. “I’ve been better.” Ione finally said stoically. And then she raised the bow again, drew back the arrow, and set it loose. It hit the center of the next, further away target.

“Perhaps it’s because you went riding in the middle of the night after you had a fainting spell.” He said it as gently and accusatory as he possibly could. Ione froze as she was drawing out her next arrow. She had not expected this conversation, apparently. “Where did you go last night?”

She looked at him, her cerulean eyes wide and anxious. “I… I didn’t go anywhere. I just rode… to clear my mind.” Her voice was shaky, but she did not fidget as she spoke. It was hard to tell whether or not it was a lie, as he definitely knew she had been unprepared to approach this subject. And she was.  She’d completely forgotten to unsaddle the mare, and if she didn’t do it, then no one but the stable hands could do it since Epona wouldn’t let Poe get near her.

“It didn’t work very well if you forgot to unsaddle Epona.” He pointed out.

She blushed. “No… it didn’t…” She mumbled, quickly refocusing on aiming her next shot.

“Did you go to the Four Sword Shrine last night?”

Her arrow ended up veering to the upper left on the next target. “I didn’t go anywhere.” Her voice didn’t shake, but she was clearly upset.

“The physician said that you might have been suffering effects from the seal possibly weakening…” He began. “If that’s true, I have no problem with you visiting the Shrine, but during the day and you must have an-”

“An escort, I know!” She snapped, turning on her heel to face him angrily. “It’s unsafe to go alone, I’ve heard it all before! I did not go to the Shrine last night!”

Link stepped back, not having expected the outburst. Unsure of what to make of it, he regained his composure. “All right, Ione, calm down. I believe you… But something is the matter. What is it?”

Her nostrils flared out angrily, but her face did soften leaving only a disgruntled pout upon her lips. She looked away, and said quietly, “It’s just the bad dreams, Daddy.”

He frowned. “You still have those?”

She kept in a humorless laugh, remembering how Poe had asked her the same thing two weeks before. “Just last night. I’m fine.” She answered plainly, taking the bow up again and nocking an arrow.

Her father did not know what to make of this. “Perhaps tomorrow we should visit the Shrine and make sure the seal is in check?” He suggested.

The arrow loosed, hitting another target dead center. “Fine.” The princess answered coldly.

Truthfully, Link wasn’t at all used to her chilly voice. He’d only been on the end of it very few times. He wondered what had happened last night that had made her this distressed. Surely it couldn’t have been just her nightmare? They were terrible, yes, but when she was younger she would always perk right up during the day. _She’s not an easily distracted child anymore, though_ , he reminded himself. “Ione… You know you can trust me if anything is the matter, right?”

She glanced at him from the side, and for the first time in their conversation, a small smile graced her lips. “Of course, Daddy.”

He hadn’t noticed how tense he had been until she responded positively. Somehow, he’d been thinking that his daughter didn’t trust him. “Good,” he said with some measure of relief.

“Daddy?”

“Yes?”

She faced him completely now, putting the bow aside and brushing off of her skirts. “You have a meeting with the Wind Tribe later today, correct?”

“Yes. What of it, Ione?”

“I’d like to attend.” She said matter of factly.

He blinked, “Really?” His wild, fiery child, actually wanted to sit in on the annual report from the Wind Tribe? She nodded, and he could only give her a warning, “It’s terribly boring.”

“I would like to attend,” she repeated, the chill coming back into her voice.

“If you insist,” he surrendered.

* * *

 

Zelda found, as she lay back on her bed and stared at the ceiling, that lying was becoming far too easy. She hadn’t gone to the Shrine the night before; she had only had the nightmare last night… That was two lies. And she had counted keeping the secret of her headaches and their connection to the Four Sword as one big lie. That was three lies. It didn’t seem like that many, but these weren’t exactly “white” lies. She wasn’t telling her father that the color of his new vest was lovely when it was really atrocious. This was serious. And she was keeping these big secrets that she should have been telling her father.

Blood on the Four Sword… that was rather important, wasn’t it?

Yet she didn’t have any proof it was from anything malicious or that it meant anything at all. She was keeping secrets because she didn’t know anything for sure, she justified to herself. Until she was sure, she just couldn’t say anything. And going to that meeting with the Wind Tribe would only be her proof to show her that her father had enough to worry about. … Right?

 _Tomorrow I’m visiting the Shrine with Daddy. That will clear things up._ She told herself. She’d been stupid in going to the Shrine alone… Even though she did remind herself that the night before, she wasn’t alone. She had Poe. But Poe wasn’t her father, no. There was something her father that would make the experience different. There had to be.

With a sigh, Zelda rose and walked to her bookshelf and took out _Eros and Psyche_ again. The volume was slim, so she had finished it the night before. It had also successfully lulled her into a dreamless sleep, which she was grateful for. She found she actually liked the story itself too, despite its shortness. Still, the names in the book were odd. Eros, Psyche, Aphrodite… The book didn’t even have any mention of authorship or any indications as to a nationality; not even the name of the person who printed it. She wondered if perhaps the Wind Tribe knew anything of such names or the origins of the story itself.

Since she had come to her room with an hour until the meeting, she thought that it may near be time to start heading down. After she put the book back on the space she’d made it for it on the shelf, she left her room. Having been moody that morning, a lot of the servants that she passed were surprised at her hellos, but she simply pretended nothing was the matter. Finding her way easily to the room where she knew her father usually had the meetings. It was a smaller room with a table big enough to seat six and a window that let in the sunlight, with the walls featuring happy paintings of content Hylians in the landscapes. She invited herself in the room to see the two Wind Tribe members, Gale and Flurris, already waiting.

She smiled at the two elderly women, who smiled back at her with their crooked smiles.

“Look at you,” Fluriss, the heavier set white haired woman said, “Looking much better than you did the last night, I must say!”

Gale, the thinner of the two that still had some apple red streaks in her graying hair, gave her a look of concern, “Are you feeling all right, dear. Your father said you wanted to sit in on this, but you really don’t have to if you’re not up to it. It’s rather uneventful.”

Zelda playfully rolled her eyes and sat down across from them, “I need to get used to uneventful then! It won’t be long before I have to sit though these without my father, you know.” She told them.

“That’s certainly true enough; I remember back when you were just a dirty little rugrat causing mayhem wherever you went!” Flurris said with a bark of laughter.

“Some might say I still cause mayhem where I go,” Zelda joked.

Both Wind Tribe women laughed at that as Zelda smiled brightly. It was only a moment later that the Prince-Regent would come in to the chuckle-fest and say, “Well, I certainly feel left out.”

“Your young lady here certainly is magnetic, Link,” Gale praised, earning a beam from the princess.

The man looked as if his feathers had been preened, “She _is_ my daughter,” he said with mock smugness. But he let out a sigh and said with some regret, “Unfortunately, we have to get to the reports first.”

“Yes, yes, pleasantries later,” Flurris huffed as Link sat down by his daughter. The heavyset woman looked to her thinner companion, “Where do we start, Gale?”

“I think we may as well start with the biggest bit of news the wind has carried for us,” the younger Wind Tribe woman said; Flurris nodded in agreement, and Gale continued, “It seems whatever drama Labrynna has been going through has wrapped up. All construction on that ostentatious tower has ceased, though I don’t know what they’ll possibly do with all of that now.” Zelda frowned at this news. She honestly didn’t know much about Labrynna; she certainly didn’t know that a tower of any sort was being constructed. But the Wind Tribe women didn’t seem to pay any mind to her puzzled face.

Flurris continued on, “Whatever they plan to do with it, though, that Queen of theirs is apparently intent on making things right. Rumor has it that she’s considering opening up relations with neighboring countries – which means Hyrule’s an option since you all share a mountain range and an inland sea.”

Link dwelled on that for a moment, and deciding it was a good thing, he nodded and with a smile said, “That’s definitely good news. Trading with Holodrum is all well and good, but they’re an ocean away.” He looked to his daughter for a moment and added for her benefit, “We can only receive luxury items from Holodrum, due to their distance. Perhaps some grain, but on the sea, there’s always the chance of molding and rats. Labrynna and Hyrule share a rather docile mountain pass, surprisingly easy to traverse, making it easier to trade perishable goods.”

She nodded, even though she was honestly more interested in this talk about the Queen and a tower.

“You’ll probably be receiving a letter soon, no doubt.” Gale said before moving on, “Next… well, nothing really of interest. There does seem to more monster activity from Mt. Crenel, but it is that time of year where they get more ornery than usual… And the Palace of Winds has drifted completely from us; our winds can’t access it anymore.”

Zelda could not contain her alarm at that, “Will the Palace be able to maintain itself?”

Gale and Flurris looked at the girl in surprise, and the older answered, “Of course it should; it’s been maintaining itself for years. The magic on it is ancient and self-sustaining. Why, the only person to have stepped on that Palace in the past century is your father. Only monsters dwell there now.” The woman muttered beneath her breath as an aside to herself, “Though I’d like to know how they possibly could have gotten up there…”

“Whatever the case,” Gale continued, “That’s really all the news we have to report. Everything else has been rather calm.”

And the rest of the meeting was really an exchange of pleasantries. Gale and Flurris had funny takes on her father’s adventures as a child, all the while Link would weakly try to make these stories not seem quite as funny. It had the habit of backfiring and making for more amusing stories. But as the afternoon grew later, the two Wind Tribe women had to leave and Link was eventually called away by Captain Viscen to discuss some issue or another. It was at this time that Zelda had held the Wind Tribe women back asked them if they perhaps knew anything of the book she had picked up.

“ _Eros and Psyche_...” Gale murmured, “Yes, I have heard of that story. It’s an old myth, though for the life of me I can’t remember from where.”

“Eh, yes…” Flurris agreed, “Old Gregal, rest his soul, picked up so many books when he traveled the world. A lot of them were left behind in the Palace; he’d made a list of all the ones he’d like to go back for. That was on the list, wasn’t it, Gale?”

“Huh… I do believe you’re right…”

“But you have no idea where it was from?” Zelda asked disappointedly.

The women gave her a sympathetic look and Flurris said, “Sorry, Princess. The only one who’d know where they came from would be Old Gregal but… well, you know he’s not with us anymore.”

Zelda thanked them and then let them be on their way, barely registering their conversation as they left about how sad a situation it was that they couldn’t go back for Gregal’s books. But all the princess could think of was the oddness that such a rare story would end up in her hands. A part of her was even silly enough to think she might just have the late Gregal’s copy of the book! But the Wind Tribe women said it themselves, the Palace was beyond their control. And even if it was, how the book ended up in her room would be made more confusing yet. No, it definitely wasn’t Gregal’s copy.

She didn’t dwell on it too much. Strange as it was, it was still a harmless book. Instead she let her mind wander to the possibility of an envoy from Labrynna. She would have to ask her father for more information on the country. The only reason she knew they shared borders on the mountains was because that young man she liked, Kasuto, and his father had been sent off there. Thinking on it now, she realized that whatever was going on had her father concerned there. That tower certainly was mysterious! It was just another she would have to ask her father, and she certainly hoped she could be a part of the meeting with a possible visiting envoy from there.

But her mind quickly wandered to the more immediate matter of the planned events for tomorrow. It seemed no matter what she tried to think of, her mind returned to the Shrine and its oddities. Again, she had reminded herself that she wouldn’t be alone, so she shouldn’t be so apprehensive. But the more she reminded herself of that fact, the more anxious she got. Zelda couldn’t help but recall when she’d first told Poe of it and how it seemed that he didn’t believe her at first. What was it he had said? That sometimes bad nightmares effected people in their waking hours? It felt real… but how was she to know that it really was? It wasn’t as if she could find anyone who had these same nightmares and ask them to compare notes with her.

So flustered were these trains of thoughts, she had taken to the archery range again. There was something calming about it, holding the bow and drawing back an arrow, feeling the arm’s strain to keep it all balanced before letting all the built up power release. It was almost like she was launching her troubles away to be buried within the targets so far away. The only thing that ruined it for her was that one soldier who was trying to get friendly with her.

“Um, hello, Princess,” he would say nervously as he approached her. “So, you uh, use the bow? How long have you been using it?”

“Since I was nine,” she would respond flatly, hoping an attitude might drive him away.

But it didn’t. “Oh, since you were nine? That explains why you’re so good at it. I can barely shoot myself.”

“Practice makes perfect.” She responded haughtily.

He was again undeterred. “Yeah, that’s… that’s true I suppose. Still, maybe perhaps… Perhaps you could give me lessons?”

Honestly, Zelda had no problems with men trying to get her attention, but she had problems with men who had such weak attitudes about being direct about it. This soldier, one Shiro Carwyn, she knew was a flighty sort of fellow who didn’t grab much attention from anyone. Poe complained about him a lot, since he always had to take over so many of Shiro’s shifts. Shiro was rather sickly, partly why he didn’t grab much attention – he was never around. It was also why his training wasn’t up to snuff with any of the other soldiers. Still, if Shiro really did want to learn the bow, then go to the Master Archer. It wasn’t exactly something anyone would ask the princess. Despite that, she supposed there was a sort of charm to it; that he was asking a woman for help.

She was still annoyed, though. The other man earlier in the day had been hoping to teach her how to shoot, and now this one was asking her to teach him. Why couldn’t they just let her shoot in peace? Perhaps if Shiro had asked at any other time, she would have humored the idea of it. But right now, “I’m sorry; I’m afraid I don’t have much time to teach anyone. Princess duties, you know,” she said halfway between apologetic and “please leave me alone.” And then he seemed to get the hint. It was a rather lousy excuse to pull, after all.

It was only when she had shot out all of her worries and the sun began to set that she noticed Poe had been nearby, apparently overseeing the training of some of the younger recruits.

“Princess, second time today here,” he commented, “You haven’t been around here in forever?” He leaned in a little closer and added in a quiet whisper, “Is something from last night bothering you?”

She smiled at him, “No, Poe. It’s actually tomorrow that has me on edge for some reason. I’m going to the Shrine with my father tomorrow. I imagine you’ll probably be present as well; or I’d certainly like you to be.”

The guardsman nodded, “Of course, Princess. By the way, was Shiro bothering you earlier?”

Zelda let out a small grimace at that. “A little,” she confessed. “I think he may have been trying a rather weak attempt at getting my attention. I wouldn’t have minded so much if he hadn’t been bothering me in the midst of my shooting.”

Poe looked thoughtful for a moment, “I suppose he has been asking me a lot about you… before he asks if I can cover for him, that is.” That last part ended up coming out in an annoyed tone. “If you’d like I can talk to him, tell him to leave you alone or at the very least not disturb you while you’re in the middle of nocking an arrow.” He offered.

She smiled up at her friend. “Thank you, Poe. You really don’t need to, but if you feel that’s the best course of action I won’t stop you.” Zelda was so glad to have such a good friend. But she didn’t keep him any longer, and gave him a warm farewell before heading to dinner.

Dinner in Hyrule Castle was actually a rather personal and enclosed thing. It was usually just her and her father in his office rather than making use of the large dining room. It had seemed so pointless to have such a large table set up for only two people, and as such it was usually only used in the presence of foreign diplomats.

Zelda took the chance while she was eating with her father to ask if she could join in on greeting a Labrynnian envoy if they came. Again, Link warned her it would be dreadfully boring business, and she justified that she would have to learn to do these things sooner or later. Her father agreed, but said they wouldn’t plan anything definite until there was a confirmation that Labrynna would be sending anyone to begin with.

After dinner, she visited the stable to see Epona and was pleasantly surprised to see Miss Malon from Lon Lon Ranch there. Apparently, she was there to check on the status of the stables and make sure they were up to par for the horses she provided for the castle. They got into some light chit chat as Zelda decided to brush Epona, and the princess couldn’t help but ask, “Miss Malon… do you and my father like each other?”

The ranch mistress chuckled for a moment, “Of course I like your father. We’ve been friends for nearly 30 years.”

But Zelda gave the woman a sly smile and clarified, “No, I meant do you _really_ like my father?”

She was confused for a moment, before her face reddened, she fidgeted on her stool, and sputtered, “N-now why would you ask that?”

“I’m just curious,” she said impishly, “I don’t mind, you know. I don’t like seeing my father alone so much, missing my mother.” The playfulness dropped then into a somber silence; even her brushing of Epona had stopped mid-stroke. Zelda didn’t miss her mother. There was nothing to miss; she had died before she was born. It sounded so weird, to say that her mother had died before she was born, yet it was true. She had never gotten to know her mother at all, so she was spared from that grief. But her father wasn’t.

She felt Malon’s hand on her shoulder. She looked to the older woman, seeing her smile gently at her, “You and your father care for each other something fierce. He’s not as alone as you might think.” The ranch mistress said to her. And then to brighten the tone she stepped back again, sitting herself back on her stool and said, “But never mind me or your father – why’d you want to know about romance between us older folks? What about you? Now that your dad’s lifted that ban on boys, there has to be someone you’ve had your eye on?”

The younger girl blushed, awkwardly returning to brushing the mare, “There was one around a year ago… But it’s not likely to happen. He’s in Labrynna now. Ever since him, though, I haven’t really considered anyone else. I haven’t really thought about it at all, really.”

“Really? Not even that guardsman you’re so friendly with?” Malon asked.

Zelda flinched, “Poe? No, never! He’s my friend and that’s it!” Yuck! She loved Poe like a brother and nothing more, and he’d even said she was like a sister.

But her reaction made Malon laugh, and the older woman went on to say, “All right, all right! Well, no worries. No need to think too hard about it. Look at me, I’ve never been married and run a business all by myself! Don’t think about it and if it happens, it happens.”

The princess smiled at her. That was true. She wouldn’t even think of it. Her father halfheartedly wanted her to find someone, and she had been excited at first. Now, though, she was realizing the glamor of relationships that her Castle Town friends spoke of didn’t seem glamorous at all. She honestly had no idea what she looked for in a man, and all these fellows who were coming up to her lately were more annoying than attractive. Yes, Malon was right. She wouldn’t worry about it. There were much more important things to worry about.

And then her mind again revisited the Shrine.

She just wanted to get tomorrow over with.


	5. Chapter 5

There was a haze in the Four Sword Shrine that morning, making the place seem more welcoming than usual. The fuzziness the haze added to everyone’s vision as well the soft morning light made the place so unthreatening. For once, the princess found herself calm and almost at peace in this place. The quiet no longer seemed unnatural, but sleepy. She wondered if the reason for this tranquility was because of the time of day or the fact that she was not alone. By Zelda’s side was her father, and hanging back were four guardsmen, two of them were Poe and Gibdo.

“How does it look?” Her father had asked her.

And that when her peaceful mindset suddenly became stoic. _The same as it has the last two times._ She thought. She did not bother to probe the blade for any signs of magical breakage. The princess knew that there would be no change. But externally, there was a change from the last time she had visited. The blade was as clean as she could ever remember it, the white metal almost glowing ethereally in the hazy morning light. Yet was there really any blood there, she wondered. She had felt it on her fingers, she was so sure. But the evidence was all gone. Perhaps this just meant whoever’s idea of a horrible joke that was had returned and regretted their actions.

“There’s nothing wrong with the seal.” She finally said.

“You’re sure?” Her father asked. She nodded.

Link nodded, telling the soldiers they were to return to the castle. Zelda followed along in silence. As the Prince-Regent and his daughter rode ahead in silence, Gibdo said to Poe, “The Princess seems to be acting rather strange ever since she fainted the other night.”

Poe simply replied, “She’s stressed. She told me she wanted to start taking her duties as princess seriously. She complained about Shiro bothering her too, but in general, I think a lot of would-be suitors are bothering her. She’s not used to the attention.” But Poe was quick to add, “Well, not used to male attentions anyways.”

“I see… Poor girl; so much responsibility upon her.” The elder brother said sadly. The younger had nothing to say in response.

As they rode back to the stables, it seemed the day would be uneventful. But as soon as they had dismounted, Captain Viscen had entered the stables in a rush and headed straight for Link. Zelda forked an eyebrow as she saw Viscen whispering something to him; something that made her father seem to get so much older within those few seconds. “I see,” Link had said. “I’ll meet you there, then.” As the Captain nodded and exited the stables, the Prince-Regent turned to his daughter, “Ione, I have to leave to visit the base of Mt. Crenel with the soldiers. I don’t know when I’ll be back but try not to cause too much mischief.”

The girl frowned in concern. Her father had gone so serious when Viscen spoke to him but now he was acting as if nothing was the matter. But she nodded anyways, saying she’d try and behave herself before her father went off.

“Poe,” she called out to the guard before he left with his brother and the others. The guardsman looked to his superior to receive the nod to attend to the princess and then neared the girl.

“Yes, Princess?”

Zelda remained silent. “I’d like for you to come to Hyrule Town with me. Please tell your superior it’s a direct order from me.” She said it stoically and matter-of-factly, enough so that Poe was rather thrown off by the serious tone with which she had spoken to him.

In a quiet whisper he asked, “Are you all right?”

She peered up at him, and while her face remained expressionless, her eyes answered, “No, I’m not. Please. I need to speak with you.”

Nodding, he went to his superior, got his permission, and the guard and his ward began the trek to Hyrule Town. They walked, taking the longer, but quieter and less traveled road to the town. Zelda wanted to keep her conversation with Poe as quiet as possible.

“Every time I feel that… that presence in my head,” she had begun when she was sure no one else was around on the road, “I know that something is wrong with the Seal. But every time I check, it’s fine. Going today... it made me feel as if I’m going crazy. Am I going crazy, Poe?”

The guardsman regarded the young girl he’d befriended quietly, deciding what would be the best answer for her. “I don’t think you are.”

She furrowed her brow and frowned. The princess stopped in her tracks and looked up at her friend almost angrily. “How can you? How can you be so clam about hearing this?”

The older man shrugged carelessly, “You’re the Princess. You have such gifts, it’s in your blood. I have no reason to think you’d be going crazy unless you claimed you started hearing voices or seeing bright pink frogs floating around the sky.”

“But there’s nothing wrong!” She cried out, making the both of them come to a complete stop on the road. “Every time I check, there’s nothing wrong! A-and… the other night when we were at the Shrine… I’m not even sure if that was real! It felt real and fresh but there wasn’t a trace of it-” She caught herself, realizing that her friend was staring at her blankly. No doubt she looked like a wild woman waving her arms and stomping about. _I never told him about the blood._ She calmed herself and said quietly, “I found blood on the Four Sword the other night…”

Poe’s expression darkened. “ _On_ the Four Sword?”

The strawberry blond nodded, “Yes… I think… I think he might be trying to… to establish communication with me… And when I think about that, I can’t help but think I’m going crazy.” There was a humorless smile on her face as she spoke. Her friend said nothing in response, and after that long moment of grave quiet, she finally said, “I think I should tell my father.”

“No.” Poe responded quickly.

The immediacy of his answer puzzled her. “Why ever not?”

“Ah, um, well, he won’t understand, Princess,” the guardsman responded anxiously.

She gave him a puzzled look. He wasn’t acting like his normal self. “How would you figure that?”

He seemed to be struggling with himself if his expression was anything to go by. Eventually, he let out a frustrated sigh and said, “I didn’t want to say, Princess… but, you say such things make you sound crazy, right?” She frowned, already not liking the direction he had taken. He continued, “Well, it _is_ a bit outlandish to hear. You don’t have any proof aside from your own experiences. And you also want to prove yourself to the Prince-Regent, to able to handle this on your own. Honestly, I think if you tell him, you may actually be doing the opposite of proving yourself a capable leader.”

The girl’s frown was larger. “But my father always says that asking for help is the mark of a good leader.”

“That may be so, but Princess, you’re his only child, and a daughter to boot.” Poe pointed out.

Zelda’s brows twisted unsurely. She crossed her arms, trying to remain stand-offish to her friend’s words. “What does that have to do with anything?”

The soldier sighed pityingly, no longer as skittish as he had been a few moments ago. “Princess, do you really think he wants to put the burden of responsibility on you? If anything he considered threatening even inched itself within thirty feet of you, he’d have a conniption. He’s so very protective of you – I mean, why do you think that Kasuto kid and his dad were shipped off to the mountains?”

“But that doesn’t have anything to do with now.” She pointed put stubbornly.

Poe was unfazed. “And you really think he isn’t keeping anything from you now?”

“Of course he isn’t.” She said matter-of-factly. “He said himself I needed to learn to take responsibility.”

“So he told you about the serial murderer that’s been plaguing the town for the past three years?”

It took a minute for the words to sink into Zelda’s mind. “What?” She asked in a barely audible squeak.

And then Poe grimaced, looking like a dog that had just done something wrong. “I shouldn’t have said that.”

* * *

 

The scouting party was waiting for the Prince-Regent and the Captain by Mt. Crenel’s base. When Link had arrived, none of the members of the part looked very enthusiastic. They had taken their horses aside, while the Lieutenant took Link and Viscen aside.

“Since we’ve been here, the encampment has only grown. Little by little, but even one more is an issue.” The Lieutenant said grimly. He had led his two superiors to a large dried out thicket. Holes had carefully been carved out through the branches. Another soldier was waiting there, looking through one of these holes with a spyglass. Hearing the footfalls of others, the soldier saw his superiors and saluted.

“Hand me the glass,” Link whispered. The soldier nodded and handed over the telescope.

Link peered through, taking in the view that he had hoped was in reality a terrible joke. But it wasn’t. Moblins. Four tents, decorated roc feathers and strings of skulls. Some of the piggish tenants were patrolling the encampment, their spears glimmering in the sunlight menacingly.

When was the last time he had seen these creatures? _Vaati._ He thought. And that had been so long ago…  And they had taken such measures to ensure Moblins wouldn’t trespass onto Hylian territory. The Great Fairies had offered their protection to each of the realms. He handed the spyglass back the soldier, holdig up his hand to the Captain and Lieutenant, telling them he needed a moment in his thoughts.

Had the Great Mayfly Fairy been attacked or had she betrayed them? He simply couldn’t imagine the latter. The Great Fairies were benevolent creatures, servants of the Goddesses. And surely if they had done something to displease one of them, they would have been told, right? In the end, he just had no idea what was going on, only that it was bad whatever it was. There was no avoiding what had been to be done.

He faced Viscen, “Captain, I’m going up the mountain.” A flurry of whispered objections came from the captain and the nearby soldier. “I have an idea of why these monsters are arriving, but I have to go alone. The more people that come with me, the more noticeable we are to these creatures. Aside from that, only I know where the Great Mayfly Fairy resides.”

Captain Viscen straightened up at the name drop. “You think the Great Fairy may have something to do with this.”

“I’m very certain,” Link affirmed.

The officer remained silent for a moment, before nodding, “Will you be needing anything, sir?”

“A better harness for my sword. A waist harness isn’t ideal for scaling walls.” The Prince-Regent said. A nod from Viscen sent the other soldier running to fetch it. When it was brought, Link took the sword at his waist and switched out the harnesses, strapping the blade to his back. He grimaced as he felt the familiar weight on his back, the memories flooding back to him of his younger days, trying to save his best friend from her stone prison with the advice of the hat on his head… _Ezlo…_ He thought with an inward sigh, _You’d know what was going on._

But there was no time to dwell upon the past. He looked to the soldiers and nodded, carefully and quietly escaping the scouting area and heading to the mountain proper. The structure of the mountain had changed in past decades with rock slides and seasonal storms; many of the caves through the mountains had to be re-excavated or completely new ones had to be made. They had the bright side of less helmasaurs and chus wandering about, but unfortunately not any less keese. What worried Link most, however, was scaling the mountain without any scouts from the Moblin encampment noticing. He was lucky that in the 30 years since he last climbed up the mountain that it was much easier to traverse it thanks to the Gorons building stairs for the Hylians. Carefully and quietly, making sure his shadow did not fall into the view of any of the scouting moblins, he managed to make it up the stairs without causing suspicion to the monsters below.

The Great Fairy, however, still proved difficult to get to. While he was now out of sight of the moblins, not many people knew where the Fairy was exactly. The only reason the Prince-regent was aware was because of his adventure so long ago. There weren’t places to hide on a rock wall, and he couldn’t honestly remember the last time he’d needed to climb the old fashioned way. At least he was wearing gloves, which he was incredibly grateful for. As he climbed, he remembered doing this when he was a young boy, and quickly feeling out of breath, he wondered how on earth he managed to climb feet upon feet of this mountain so easily. When he had reached the walkable strip of land on which the Fairy was located, he couldn’t have been happier. _At least it’ll be easier getting down,_ he thought to himself. Provided the moblins didn’t notice him on the way back.

He walked over to the cave, entering the Fairy’s Fountain… but there was nothing there. At least, he could see nothing. With a grimace, he felt along the walls with his hands to make his way through. This boded ill already. Normally, the Fairy’s pool would be emitting an ethereal light. But there was no light. He kept following the wall with his hands until his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and when they did, his worst fears had been realized. He walked to the silhouette of the pool and dipped his hand in the water. He waved the water around, but nothing happened. Link stood, cried out for the Fairy, but there was no response. There was only a dank, dark cave. The Great Fairy was no longer there.

He left the cave, quickly making his way down the mountain and avoiding the sight of the moblins. The Prince-regent wasn’t sure how to relay this dread news, that the beasts were encroaching because the Fairy was no longer protecting them. But why? Had she left? Why? Did the other Fairies know? Were they leaving as well? Had Ione’s trauma been a foreshadowing to this moment? The last thought alarmed him most of all. Would Ione suffer more then, if this truly was unnatural phenomena? And if the other two Fairies were to disappear, who knew what danger would fall upon Hyrule… He needed to send scouts to their location immediately (written directions of course, since only Link really knew where they were).

But as he made his way back to where his scouts were, Viscen quickly came to him and handed him a letter. He opened it up, his eyes struggling to read the flowery writing of Chancellor Cole. When he read it, he had to keep himself from cursing the lousy timing of it all. The ambassador from Holodrum was expected to arrive that day to the put finalities on their trade renewal. _Leave it to Holodrum to just come out of the blue like this…_

He gave the orders to Viscen to find volunteers to search for the other Fairy Fountains, as well as to not engage the moblins unless they were spotted. And as he rode back to Hyrule Town, he hoped that perhaps Ione was aware of the Holodrum ambassador and was making a good impression.

* * *

 

“You mean you didn’t know?” Mina asked incredulously.

“I’m surprised you didn’t hear about it earlier,” Agatha added, “It’s been news for the past three years… Your father must have gone through great lengths to make sure this news never reached your ears.”

Zelda couldn’t believe what she was hearing. After Poe had told her, she pressured the guard for answers, but he kept his mouth shut. She had gotten so fed up with his sudden silence, she sent him back to the castle and headed to Hyrule Town herself to meet up with her other friends and speak with them about this. They were sitting together at one tables at by Mama’s Café; she began with small talk, of course, of boys and the latest trends in town, but she had been itching to get to the conversation she really wanted. When the conversation was open to it, the princess brought up the subject immediately. Their words made her feel sick; disgusted with herself. How many people had suffered at the hands of this killer and she’d never once offered a condolence?

“Zelda, really, it’s not such a terrible thing not to know about it. I certainly wish I didn’t know of such ugliness.” Mina said.

“But what kind of princes am I if I don’t even know what’s going on within the kingdom? I mean, my father says he wants to me to learn how to be a good leader, but how can I if he goes and hides things from me!” She replied, exasperated.

Agatha nodded, “Not to mention he kept your debut from you for two years. He seems very protective of you.”

“I’m beginning to think _too_ protective.” She mumbled. Both the other girls had remained quiet, not really sure what to say to their friend. But Zelda would go on, “If he’s hidden something like this from me, how am I to know he hasn’t hidden anything else?”

“Come to think of it…” Agatha began, “I remember last year there was some thievery going on, rumors of a possible gang starting up… Then that Ka-”

“SHHHHHH!” Mina quickly interrupted.

“Thievery? Gangs?” Zelda asked, not even registering the sentence that Mina had cut off. “I never once heard of any of it! I don’t get it! I come to town nearly every day, how was the information hidden?!”

“I suppose everyone just thought you already knew, that you were putting on this brave, cheery face to ease the worries of the townsfolk. I mean, that’s rather what I always thought you were doing.” Mina explained with a sheepish smile.

“I can’t believe this!” The princess cried out. “I feel like… like such an idiot!”

“Oh, but you’re not-” Agatha began, but Zelda cut her off, “I know I’m not, it’s my father who’s the idiot here!” The princess stood, irritated and unhappy. This felt like some sort of betrayal of trust to her. How could she be expected to run the country if she knew nothing of its problems beyond schmoozing with diplomats over trade! With an upset huff, she left her friends, who did not try to stop her seeing the mood their princess was in.

She was marching her way back to the castle, wanting to throw a tantrum. How could her father do this to her? And Poe was no better either, keeping it secret as well! She was even angry at her other friends and the residents of Hyrule Town, just assuming she knew things. Maybe even some of the adults close to her father were in on not letting her know too. Just how much did she not know about what was going on in her own kingdom!?

The girl took no notice of the of the guards that greeted her, or how serving girls were rushing back and forth in a panic. She took no notice of the man right in front of her until she bumped right into his back. And with a frustrated snarl, she snapped at the unfamiliar man she’d run into, “Oh, do watch where you’re going!”

“Princess!” She heard the scolding tone of Chancellor Cole from the side. “Have some manners!”

“No, no, it’s quite all right,” said the man in a weasely sort of voice. Honestly, Zelda really didn’t like him. She’d never seen this strangely dressed fellow before with his weird sticky-uppy hair. “It sounds like she’s in a bit of a mood.”

“Oh, I’m in a mood?” Zelda retorted. “You seem to think you know me well enough, yet I can’t seem to recall ever meeting such a peacock!”

Both the strange man and Cole looked flabbergasted as the princess continued on her way in an angry, better-than-thou saunter. As had been her habit in the past few days when she was riled up, she went to the archery range. Poe was there, but she was still upset at him and ignored him. Shiro was also there, and in his shy fashion attempted to talk to her. She’d nearly bit his head off and then promptly focused on loosing arrow after arrow after arro. The message, by then, was clearly sent to those around her. The princess was not to be trifled with.

That was until about an hour later, when she was giving the back the training bow that she saw her father. Still upset, she ignored him until he was standing right by her, waiting to be acknowledged as she hung the quiver up. When no acknowledgement came, he simply called her name, “Ione.”

“Father.” If he didn’t get the idea she was mad, he certainly did now.

“Chancellor Cole tells me you had an altercation with Ambassador Plen from Holodrum today.”

Zelda held in a wince. She hadn’t known _that_. But she was still angry, and resolved not to relent. “That peacock? I wouldn’t have known.”

“Ione! You gave an insult to our primary trading partner!” Link barked.

She faced her father and retorted, “So I was just supposed to be nice and polite and tell him he looked _fabulous_?”

“Yes!” Her father was raising his voice. “The trade renewal hasn’t been finalized! His pride was attacked, he threatened to suspend the renewal!”

“Because he can’t take the truth? I certainly think _I_ could have handled the truth better!” The girl shouted, her eyes watering with the threat of tears. Her father’s expression went blank. Before he could think of a response, she said, “You want me to become a good leader, but how can I become one if I don’t even know the state of my own kingdom? Three years and I’d never once heard a single thing of it.”

The Prince-regent’s face softened as he reached out to his daughter, “I just wanted to protect you.”

She stepped back, “No, you’re coddling me! Holding off my debut for two years, sending Kasuto away, hiding news of a serial murderer-”

“Kasuto was a gang lord in the making.” Link pointed out defensively.

“Stop _lying_!” Zelda cried out loud enough for all attention to be put on the royal pair. Her father was taken aback. “Yesterday you said I could trust you with anything… but how can I when you don’t trust _me_?” She didn’t even want to hear a response. She ran off, holding back angry tears. Her legs kept moving, the princess honestly having little idea of where she was actually heading. But anywhere would be better than back there where only lies seemed to surround her.

Yet when her fog of anger cleared, she didn’t understand why her legs had taken her to the one place she now claimed to loathe: the Four Sword Shrine. She ignored her tattered skirts being pulled by snaggy weeds as she approached the steps, just feeling some sort of numbness inside. For all her dislike of this place, she actually began to feel more honesty could be found in the Shrine than the castle or Hyrule Town. Vaati, after all, made no secrets in his mental attacks on her that he was trying to get her attention. Her heels clicked against the stone floor as she approached the Four Sword in its pedestal, completely ignoring the mural on the back wall. The beast was in the sword, not in the mural. She sat down, pulling her knees before her and hugging them.

She had no idea why she was sitting before this sword, about to do what she was going to do. Was it to get her mind off of… everything else? She didn’t know. “You have my attention now. What do you want?”

“Some might claim that speaking to a sword is cause for worry.”

Zelda froze. The voice she heard was familiar and unfamiliar to her at the same time… but she hadn’t seen another person in the Shrine. She slowly looked over her shoulder, making out from her peripheral vision the figure of a man in a deep purple cloak a few feet back. The princess scrambled up immediately, glaring at this stranger. She’d never seen anyone like him. Pale, red eyes, black marks under the eyes, purple hair… She might have called him peculiarly handsome but something about him just set off a red flag she couldn’t place. “Who are you? What are you doing here? Those without permission of the Royal Family aren’t allowed in here.”

He smiled lazily at her. “I assure you, my presence here is quite permissible.”

She forked an eyebrow at him. “Did my father send you here? I’ve never seen you before.”

“I’d say your father sent _you_ here.”

 Zelda stepped back, feeling very uncomfortable in the presence of this man. “How do you know that?”

“An educated guess. You asked if your father sent me after you, implying you ran away from him.” He said simply.

With an exhale of relief, she relaxed. “I guess it is that simple to figure out…” She sighed, and turned back to face the sword.

“Trouble at home?” The stranger asked.

With a humorless chuckle, she replied, “I only found out that everyone I know has been lying to me about things I should know. Murders? Thieving? Does the princess need to know? No, she’s such a fragile thing, fainting because some mage from thirty years ago won’t leave her alone.”

“I think he just wants to better know the girl who released him.”

She laughed, “What a strange thing to say. How would you know…” She paused then, the red flags in her head waving around faster than ever. She began to connect the dots; why she’d never seen him before but still seemed to think she should know him, why his voice was both familiar and unfamiliar to her.

Zelda was afraid to turn around and look at this man now, but she had to. And doing so felt like time was going in slow motion, but she looked back, and saw that the man wasn’t looking at her but instead looking at a bat perched on his shoulder, scratching its little head affectionately. And then she realized it wasn’t a bat. Bat’s had heads and two eyes and one pair of wings. That thing on the man’s shoulder had two sets of wings, horns, and an eye making up nearly the entirety of its body. A Beholding Eye.

The stranger’s crimson glance came her way, a devilish grin on his pale face. “You asked if your father had sent me here. In a manner of speaking, yes, he did.”

Fear. Pure, abject fear. It was the monster from her nightmares in human form, mere feet away from her.

The girl picked up her skirts and ran; she ran as fast as she could, right past him and out of the Shrine. She didn’t know if she screamed, she didn’t know if he followed, and she didn’t dare look behind her. All she knew was that she had to get out of there as quickly as possible – she had to go to the Castle and find her father. No more secrets; forget their earlier fight. She would tell him everything, of the pains she had been feeling, of the suspicions she’d had. They were all correct! Oh why hadn’t she told him earlier?!

As the twilight began to make itself known in the sky, she could only feel more dread at the thought of the oncoming darkness of night. When she had run into the Castle, she ignored all the looks of worry and confusion around her, simply demanding to know where her father was. “Your father’s speaking with the ambassador in the conference room, but – Wait, Princess!”

But she did not listen to the servant who had given her the information. She had burst into the conference room, probably looking hysterical and out of sorts with her dirtied dress and torn hem. The argument from earlier was completely forgotten, her father coming to her side immediately and begging her to calm down so she could speak clearly. She had just barely managed to say, “The Shrine… I was at the Shrine, and Vaati… It’s Vaati, he’s out, and that’s why I’ve been having the nightmares and the fainting spells. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I never mean to keep it secret!”

“The girl’s obviously stressed and mentally exhausted,” Cole began dismissively, but Link would hear none of it.

“Get my horse ready.”

“What? But, sir-”

“ _Get my horse ready_.”

“Y-yes, sir!”

Her father took her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him, “Ione, please, please calm down.” But the girl only coughed through her sobbing. “Please, Ione, you must calm yourself. It’s very important that you calm yourself. We need to go back-”

“No!” She wailed, “No, he’ll throttle me like he did in the nightmares!” The girl could see it so clearly in her head, except instead of the great Beholding Eye it was that handsome fellow with his hands round her neck, smiling that malicious smile as he watched her eyes roll back into her skull as the life left her.

“Ione!” Her father’s words snapped her out of her waking terror. The princess looked into her father’s eyes; strong, determined, filled with so much courage. “I can’t do this alone, Ione. I need you to make sure the seal remains strong after we defeat him. You need to be there – you must face your fears.” Link said it slowly, calmly, confidently. That is what would happen. It was fact. Her father would let no harm come to her. She had to be strong, so they could do this together…

“I’m scared.” She squeaked shakily.

“Courage is not the absence of fear,” her father said, his voice strong, “But the triumph over it.”

While she was far from calm, Zelda took in a breath and nodded. She would go… She had to go.

As she rode with her father on his horse, she had to keep chanting his words to herself. It was the only thing keeping her from demanding that she be left in the middle of Hyrule Field, sending her father and the rest of the soldiers ahead. She dreaded seeing the forest, of knowing that within its depths was the Shrine with the source of her greatest fears.

They entered the forest, the horses all whinnying and refusing to cross the cobblestone border that signaled the Shrine. She and her father dismounted, Link holding the hilt of his sword in preparation, ready to use it and then drop it at a moment’s notice for the Four Sword. Zelda hung back, near the horses, sharing their anxiety.

But now, a new nightmare replaced the old.

Because the Four Sword Shrine was empty, and not a single thing in it looked out of the ordinary.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains graphic depictions of violence in the later half; if you are squeamish or sensitive to gore, please skip the last half! You have been warned!

The official story, to those who knew of the “snafu,” was that the princess had suffered a mental breakdown. Zelda had given up trying to convince her father and the doctor otherwise, that despite the intact seal – double checked by the local priest _and_ the fortune teller –, Vaati was loose. No matter how many times she said she was mentally sound, it only seemed to make them think she was mentally unstable. When you were desperate in trying to prove you weren’t crazy, though, then of course you would sound so.

More frustration bottling up inside of her and being so sick of people, she had holed herself in her room and refused to come out for the last three days. The princess simply lay down on her bed in a tight ball of stress. She ignored her father’s knocking on her door, trying to get her out to “talk,” she ignored the knocking of servants offering sweets or tea (though they did leave them by her door, and she’d sneak them inside her room when she was sure they were gone)… She didn’t want to deal with these people who gave her their pitying gazes. Oh the poor princess was so stressed, we should treat her nice so she doesn’t go crazier!

But he was real. She knew it. Every head pain she suffered, every suspicious visit to the Shrine, perhaps even her nightmares all had led to that moment in the Shrine where he finally came face to face with her. Where the mage simply stood there, absently commenting on her own ranting… Come to think of it, for a mage who should’ve been out for her bloodline, he seemed rather… non-threatening.

_“I think he just wants to better know the girl who released him.”_

She sat up on her bed, remembering the little Beholder the mage had been petting on his shoulder. She looked out her balcony doors, seeing no trace at all of bats. But of course there wouldn’t be, it was still the afternoon. But that never stopped her from seeing any during the day before. Had the bats always been Beholders? Is that really what she had been seeing?

Another voice popped into her head. _“These bats are different from ordinary bats – they’re really hard to catch. Not that you need to catch one… One day, those bats are going to be real friendly with you.”_

Memories of a voice whispering in her head as a child, nightmares of a beast crushing her before blackness overtook her… and her best friend, the man that had saved her from anarchists… She never remembered anarchists. Had her nightmares really not been so? Memories disguised, supported by her rescuer…

A new fear began to well up inside of her as she began to see a connection that she never thought she would ever make. Zelda curled up into a ball again; even more confused and distressed than before.

But also confused and distressed was the girl’s father. Link had so many questions of his own, so many pressures weighing down upon him. At the stables, he began to vent to Malon, the only one he could seem to ever let know any of these worries.

“I can’t help but wonder where I’ve gone wrong. Have I done anything wrong?” He asked as he sat upon a stool, looking like a man at the end of his rope. Malon remained quiet, pretending to stay focused on her notes of the horses of the castle’s stable, waiting for Link to finish his words. “Had I kept her from the responsibilities of the kingdom for too long? Would I have been better off raising her like Zelda had been? Was raising Ione as a normal child wrong? She’s not a normal child… She’s a princess with sacred blood in her veins… I just wanted her to have what Zelda had missed… Now I can’t help but wonder if Zelda would have known any better…”

At that, Malon snorted and looked away from her notes, giving her longtime friend a flat expression. “She would have been just as clueless as you, Link.” The blond man frowned, offended, no doubt, but Malon continued, “Link, just because she was the mother of your daughter does not mean she automatically knows everything about mothering. There’s no guidebook on how to raise kids, and anyone who says there is is trying to sell you something. So don’t go putting all the blame on yourself – you raised the princess as you thought she ought to have been raised and there’s nothing wrong in that. Keepin’ so much stuff from her, though – that might have been where you’ve gone wrong.”

The Prince-regent sighed and hung his head, “I suppose you’re right… But now I’m afraid to tell her anything. I don’t want her suffering more than she is now.”

Malon pulled up another stool by Link, sat down and dropped her notes. “Link, suffering is a part of life. I know you don’t want her to go through it, but it’s going to happen. It happens to all of us. I’m not telling you what to do, mind you, but I think you’ve been protecting her too much from what life actually is.”

The man looked to his friend and asked in a quivering, helpless voice, “Then what do I do?”

And the ranch mistress knew all too well what he had meant. Link had spent his whole life protecting – protecting Zelda, protecting Hyrule, protecting his daughter… he didn’t know how to do anything else. For nearly twenty years he’d monitored everything and shielded his child from everything, all in an attempt to bring her some normalcy. And he wanted her to grow up, to learn the things her mother knew and that he knew, but wasn’t sure how to do it. She smiled at him gently, reached out, and gripped his hand softly. “Link, right now… After everything she’s been through… I think she needs some time to herself. Just let her go about her business and do what she likes. She’s a seventeen year old girl who’s been through a lot in the past few weeks, the headaches, learning all those politics, and girl troubles… After today, I think the doctor’s guess about mental stress was right. Give her space, let her go to you. But have that Poe fella keep an eye her, though, just in case she needs you but doesn’t think she does.”

And for the brief moments after Malon finished speaking, Link felt something. There was a tingle of extra warmth from the woman’s calloused, working hands that he’d never felt before but somehow had always been there. For a brief second, despite his worries about Ione, he’d forgotten the anxiety; Malon’s words gave him a courage he hadn’t felt since…

Perhaps when the realization dawned on him, awkwardness dropped in between the two adults like a thick fog. Malon had taken her hand back, quickly picking up her notes and going back to logging whatever it was she had been logging. Link stared into space for a moment, a slight flush coming to his cheeks when he realized that he wasn’t sure he’d be able to look at his friend the same way again. He stood up, too quickly to look as if it were normal, and stuttered a thanks to the woman before heading back to the castle, the woman only nodding in acknowledgement as she tried to hide her own reddened face.

* * *

 

She’d abandoned any semblance of princess-hood that afternoon, changing into a common dress and grabbing a plain sheet and using it as a makeshift coat. It may have looked silly, yes, but she didn’t want anyone to know she’d left the castle. Zelda had been careful in making sure her exit was unnoticed, but was in too much of a hurry to make sure no one had noticed the odd girl in the bedsheet cloak shuffle out of the castle.

_What I saw was real. He was really there_. Just an hour ago, it was the thought that she had been chanting in her head to tell herself she was sane. Now, she found herself dearly wishing she was as loony as everyone no doubt thought she was. Because if Vaati really had been there… And Poe who seemed to know about those awful little beholders! _There’s no concrete evidence!_ She had to tell herself. _It’s all completely circumstantial!_ But if it was so unlikely, how come the very thought of the connection was making her heart wrench?

She just had to hear it from Poe. She had to hear the truth from him, that it was nothing! If she didn’t hear it straight from him… Honestly, Zelda didn’t know what would happen. Maybe she really _would_ have a mental breakdown.

Even as she wandered into town, her makeshift disguise seemed to work. No one paid any attention to the strange girl who hid her face in a hood, though it also helped that she could hear those huddled together in circles whispering about rumors of the princess. She was incredibly glad no one could see the tinges of reddening embarrassment and fury upon her face.

After making her way deep into Hyrule Town’s housing district, she knocked on the door of her friend. There was no answer. The knot in her stomach tightened. Poe had to be home. She knew for a fact his shift was over the day. Unless he was replacing Shiro again… She knocked again, just in case he hadn’t heard. But the result was the same. A third harder, cautionary knock again provided no change. She dragged both her hands down her face in frustration.

And then she remembered Poe’s family home. Gibdo was there, no doubt. Perhaps Gibdo might know where his brother was! She grimaced, however, remembering she didn’t know the elder brother’s schedule. It was the only lead she had, though, so she went down the streets once again until she came upon the house she knew Poe used to live in with his brother. She knocked.

For a moment, she feared she would receive the same result she had gotten when knocking upon Poe’s door. But after a moment, she could hear the shuffling of steps moving around from behind the door. A few seconds later, the door opened, and Gibdo stood there in his casual dress. It was extremely strange for Zelda to see Gibdo dressed so normally, even though something in the way he held himself still said “Guardsman and Soldier to the Crown.” Perhaps he never really was off-duty, as it didn’t take him long to recognize her.

“Princess? What on earth are you doing? And… is that a bedsheet?”

“Where’s Poe?” She asked, getting straight to business.

But the off-duty guard frowned at her, “Princess, you shouldn’t be wandering about-”

“ _Where’s Poe?_ ”

Gibdo looked startled at the forcefulness in her voice. Perhaps he’d even noticed the slight waver in her tone and the desperate expression on her face. Puzzled, he answered, “I don’t know.” That certainly wasn’t the answer she wanted or needed to hear. She was sure she couldn’t hide the anxiety in her visage. The guard stepped aside, “Come inside, Princess, before anyone notices you out of the castle…”

She didn’t argue, but only because she had no idea where to possibly go from there. She numbly entered the guard’s home, a sparsely furnished place that said the man likely lived more for his job than anything else. It had once been home to the whole of Gibdo’s family, his parents, his brother, his sister and so on, until the sister eloped, the parents died, and Poe found his own residence. To Zelda, the house appeared spacious, but in a lonely, depressing way. Her friend’s brother invited her to sit down at the small table by the kitchen as he went about to make some tea for his guest.

The princess sat where she had been invited to sit, but all she could do was really stare at the old wood of the table and its various grooves and notches. If she didn’t find Poe and get the answers to her questions soon, she really would break down, she just knew it. She could already feel the grimy fingers of panic gripping themselves her brain, threatening to clamp down forcefully. Or it might have been her own fingers gripped her head tightly as she failed to calm herself down. She hadn’t even noticed that the hood of her makeshift cloak and fallen onto her shoulders.

“Princess.”

Zelda snapped back to her shaky reality at Gibdo’s voice. She looked up to see the guard, standing by her with two cups of tea in his hands. She could see he was trying to identify the nature of her distress, even if his expression was a complete poker face. He set her cup down before her and then took a seat across from her.

“Why do you want to find my brother so badly?”

She didn’t pick up the tea. If she did, she knew her hands would be shaking the cup. She focused on her own reflection in the dark liquid, her wide eyes and worry making her think she was perhaps looking at a different person. “I just really need to speak to him.”

“But why?”

The princess pursed her lips, and finally brought her gaze up to the older man’s face. “Has Poe ever given you the impression that… that he’s not content working for the crown?”

She could tell it was an odd question for him, but Gibdo did put thought into it before he answered. “Jokingly, I suppose he does give that impression. But seriously? I couldn’t imagine it.”

She didn’t respond, but it was plain that she was unsure whether or not to believe the answer. The guardsman looked on at her with a worried expression. “Princess… Did something happen with my brother?”

Zelda kept her eyes on the tea, not sure how to answer. She never should have asked Gibdo such a question, she thought to herself. She shouldn’t have brought those suspicions to Poe’s _brother_. But to deny that her question was silly at this point would be stupid. Her circumstances of the past day and her arrival in a bedsheet cloak were enough to say that she was either crazy or deathly serious.

“Princess… I want you to know that while my brother and I may not be close, I know that any affection he has for you is real.” The princess looked to older man, puzzled and hesitant to believe his words, even though she desperately wanted to. Gibdo elaborated, “Poe’s not a sociable person, Princess. You’re the only one I can think of off the top of my head he’s actually close to. When he’s not working or with you, he usually wanders around alone. He always finds some part in his day for you. The last few days since the… erm, incident… well, he’s been worrying his head off, believe it or not. He’s certainly been telling off Shiro for trying to send you any gifts too; says you don’t need any more pestering and his “useless” attempts can be tried later.” The older man even chuckled a bit at the last statement, “He’s been taking out a lot on Shiro, actually.”

A little smile did creep upon her face then. Gibdo really did believe his brother was loyal… if not to the crown then at least to her. That was something, then… But still, the doubt outweighed anything else. Vaati’s words and the circumstantial evidence her mind provided were outweighing anything else. His brother could speak praises about him, but she didn’t think she could believe anyone but Poe himself. Regardless, she kept those thoughts to herself and hoped her face was showing that she felt better, even if she really didn’t.

“Thank you, Mr. Gibdo,” she said, standing up, “For the tea and your words. But still, if you see Poe, please tell him I really want to speak with him.”

The elder guard stood with her, apparently not minding that she actually hadn’t touched her tea at all. He led her to the door, promised her he would, and she took the road into the town proper, again pulling up her bedsheet hood and hoping to be unnoticed.

_Mr. Gibdo believes Poe is innocent… I should too._ She wanted to believe Gibdo, she really did… But even so, she still couldn’t bring herself to. Poe was the only one who had the real answers, yet she had no idea where he was. An off-duty guard could be anywhere, and she had to confess that she really had no idea what Poe did when he wasn’t working or around her. In fact, the sun was almost completely set, and if Poe had any sort of life he was no doubt doing something in town.

As she had reentered the castle, she simply shrugged off her bedsheet cloak, no longer caring who saw her as she returned to her self-imposed exile in her room. If anyone tried to get her attention, she paid them none. She’d returned to her room, locking the door behind her and making her way through her shadowed room towards her small desk. She hastily threw out the chair, plopped down, and buried herself in her arms on the desk. Zelda could feel that real mental breakdown coming…

_Tap-tap. Tap-tap._

Something was pattering upon the glass of her balcony doors. Her body tensed up anxiously, but she sat up and looked to the doors near her. She didn’t see anything until he gaze trailed downwards. Up until three days ago, she might have thought it was a bat that fell on her balcony and was struggling to catch the air again. Now seeing that black, bat winged silhouette, she knew it was a little Beholding Eye.

The mental breakdown she’d felt coming on was quickly pushed aside in favor of fury. How long had this horrible mage had his disgusting little Beholders watching her? And Poe, who’d said she’d befriend them! There was no denying it, her friend really was a traitor! She just wanted to be rid of Vaati and his Beholders - and even Poe now that she was so sure where his loyalties lay. Zelda kicked herself off her chair and stomped towards her bow and quiver. She picked them up, readied them in her hands as she marched towards the doors, threw them open and immediately nocked a bow aimed right at the Beholder. The little ting tried to beat its wings quickly, to avoid its grim fate, but she released the arrow, and with a puff of purple smoke the Beholder expired.

“Well that’s unfair; it didn’t do anything to you.”

She immediately readied another arrow, aiming it at the roof where the sound of the wretched sorcerer’s voice came from. But he wasn’t there. There was just another Beholder. She shot it anyways, and it too expired with a puff of smoke.

“You really are in a hostile mood, at the moment.”

On her left. Another arrow nocked, she turned quickly. Just a Beholder upon the balustrade. The mage was projecting himself through them… And for a moment, she considered shooting this one as well. But this was the third. He wanted to speak to her, and he would keep sending them after her until she was out of arrows, she knew. She still kept the arrow aimed and ready at the little beastie, but snarled, “It’s all _your_ fault. Everyone thinks I’m crazy.”

The little Beholder rolled its eye. “Oh yes, because you run to your father to come and defeat and I’m just going to remain and let him, am I? Use your sense, girl, why on earth would I do that?”

She was dumbstruck. In her anger, she hadn’t exactly been thinking, and the mage’s words were logical. But she didn’t want him to be right so she let the arrow loose. The Beholder expected it and flew away in time, flapping around erratically so she couldn’t aim at it properly as she readied her next arrow.

“Very mature, Princess!” The mage’s tone was snide, “Shoot an arrow at innocent party!”

“You’re not innocent!” Zelda snarled.

“Oh really?” The Beholder flew quickly towards her, hovering barely an inch from her face, “Name one misdeed I’ve committed since _you_ released me ten years ago.”

Zelda stepped back, flabbergasted not only from the close proximity of the Beholder but also the fact that he’d brought up another good point. It took her a moment, but she finally came up with one. Proudly she said, “You’ve made a traitor of a Hylian soldier.”

The Beholder continued to hover, its red eye considering her seriously before taking on an amused glimmer, “I suppose that does count, but you’ll be hard pressed to find anything else.” The triumph she’d had in saying that answer quickly vanished as she felt a stab of pain through her heart. No doubt it showed on her face, as the mage’s Beholder circled her, “Now, now, Princess, after you released me, I couldn’t have any news going around that I had been released. Consider it an act of mercy – I could’ve killed him instead.”

She kept her bow and arrow steady as she found her mark again, but she didn’t shoot her arrow at the mage’s creature. Her anger was still there, but it was a jumbled mess of other things too. Confusion and grief were letting her think clearly, and the mage seized the opportunity to speak again, “If you really think about it, him being my thrall really has worked out to your advantage. If you had told anyone else of your suspicions of me, they would have been dismissed in a second. But since Poe has always known, he’s always believed you – always been telling you that everyone else would doubt.”

_I should shoot it. Even if he does bring another, I should shoot it._ The princess told herself, but she still hesitated. Even as the Beholder perched itself back on the balustrade, no longer a moving target, she couldn’t find it in herself to shoot it.

“He really is your only friend, you know.”

“St... stop lying to me.” It came out of her mouth feebly, unsure.

“I assure you, Princess, I haven’t lied to you once. And isn’t that more than you can say about your father?”

If the news of Poe’s true loyalties had been a stab in the heart, these words had crushed it. She dropped her weapon, he arms falling limply to her sides. Zelda wanted to scream and shout, demand that she be left alone else she do something horrible to the Beholder that the mage spoke through. She wanted nothing more than to call the sorcerer out on his vicious lie, but the truth was that he was _right_. Vaati hadn’t harmed her. He had grabbed her as a child and crushed her, but in the end, she was alive. He hadn’t truly hurt her. He’d left her alone for so long, Poe had been there for her, listening to worries that would no doubt sound crazy to anyone else…

“Princess,” Vaati continued, “I said it before – I only wish to get know you better. I owe you my freedom, after all.”

And nothing more was said. The little Beholder simply took off of the balustrade and flew into the darkness of the night, leaving the Princess of Hyrule more confused and doubtful than ever before.

* * *

 

 “The Princess isn’t interested, Shiro.”

“I know but-”

“She isn’t interested. You’re just annoying her.”

“I was hoping-”

“Shiro, _she’s not interested_.”

“…”

“But I’m willing to help you out.”

“You are?”

“Why wouldn’t I? I cover your shifts all the time out of the goodness of my heart.”

“… I just always thought you didn’t like me that much.”

“Don’t be a dumbass; you’re okay in my book. Now if you want to get the Princess’s attention…”

And so Poe relayed instructions to Shiro. The princess, distressed in the last few days, was distraught over the serial murders that had been happening. To get the princess’s attention and gratitude, Shiro would have to catch the killer. It was daunting, and the young soldier hesitated, but he would do it. Poe told him that he had received a lead concerning the possible identity of the murderer. It would be a team effort. Poe would chase the culprit down and Shiro would be waiting at the dead end of an alleyway to arrest the murderer. They couldn’t be obvious as to their occupations, though, so of course they would be out of armor.

So the two went their separate ways, and Shiro waited at the appointed alleyway. A dank, dark place in between two abandoned buildings in what was becoming the “bad” part of Hyrule Town. It was really late, and the younger man began to wonder if his mother would be worrying about his whereabouts. Perhaps Poe couldn’t find the killer, or something had gone wrong. He was getting nervous.

Just when he was about to make his way down the alleyway to find his partner, a silhouette of a man appeared. Shiro stood at the ready, his hand on his sword, until he heard Poe’s voice, “Calm down, Shiro, it’s just me.”

Shiro relaxed, but looked around anxiously. “Where is he?”

In the darkness, Shiro couldn’t see the nasty grin on Poe’s face. Nor could he see the leather butcher’s apron that the older guard was now wearing. So nervously was he looking around, he didn’t notice the knife the other man held as he closed the proximity between them. It was only when Poe quickly cupped his hand over Shiro’s mouth and skillfully stabbed the knife upward in between the ribs and into a lung did the young man realize his most grievous mistake.

“Right here.” Poe whispered gleefully, taking in the sound of Shiro’s muffled attempts at a scream through his hand. But the scream broke out into a bloody cough, the young man staggered back, wheezing, actually trying to hold in his breaths through this indescribable pain. Everything was going fuzzy, he couldn’t see.

And Poe absolutely loved it. His young victim here, trying to drag himself away. It was useless, of course, as Poe was blocking the only exit out of this crappy part of town. Happily, the older man kicked the younger right in the chest, exacerbating the pain of the younger’s punctured lung and his attempts at a half scream. He knelt down and turned his victim onto his back. To keep him from moving further he straddled him, and with all too much delight he took his handy dandy knife and skillfully stabbed the other lung.

He loved killing by lung punctures. The victims couldn’t scream, because the pain was so unbearable. They’d puke up their blood helplessly as the slowly succumbed to their terrible death of choking on their own blood. That wasn’t usually enough for Poe, or at least in good ol’ Shiro’s case.

With a sadistic grin, Poe lowered himself so that his lips were right by the young man’s ears. “You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do this.” He sat up again, watching the young man’s wide-eyed fear and suffering. What should he do next? Perhaps the eyes? No, he was never a fan of eyes. He liked his victims to watch themselves die. Ah, the guts. The guts were always good. He pulled up the younger man’s shirt and wasted no time bringing the knife down over Shiro’s stomach and sawing through the flesh. The young man wheezed out.

“You know, that Kasuto kid was a real dick,” Poe began conversationally, his words straining as he pushed and pulled the knife through thick abdominal muscle. “But, there was a benefit to him being huge dick that he was. He fucking cleared this part of town out.” He looked to Shiro, his mad grin getting all the more wider as he saw the tears of anguish and suffering trail down his victim’s face and blend with the coughed up blood. He sighed wistfully, his wrist rolling the knife around in his hands so casually. “Isn’t it wonderful? Even if you could scream, nobody would come to help you because there’s nobody here.”

Poe then paused a moment to take a deep whiff of the air, saturated now with smell of metal and fear. His cheeks were hurting; he didn’t think he could smile any wider than he was at that very moment. He looked back down to the gaping hole he’d put in his victim’s stomach and figured he may as well get Shiro looking all pretty for when he’d get found.

“… W… Wh… why…?”

It was pathetic, breathy, and barely audible. The sound of a man in his last, pitiful moments. It made Poe tingle with such joy, especially when the expression matched. Shiro’s expression was even better because it also had the added look of betrayal.

“Because I hate you.” Poe answered simply as he thrust his hand into Shiro’s wound, grabbing a handful of the stuff inside and pulling out, making the younger man writhe and gurgle out in his pain. “You needy, sickly, son of a bitch. The moment you started trying to put the moves on my Master’s prize was just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Not that you’d be any competition mind you, it just gives me a good excuse to do _this_.” He pulled out a string of guts, throwing it nonchalantly upon his victim. Add some horror to Shiro’s face.

This was just the best night Poe had had in a long time, hands down. It was amazing how resilient humans could be. Because with both lungs filled with blood and his intestines sprawled all over his torso, Shiro was still alive, in pain and slowly dying. But no doubt he’d be dead soon now. And Poe would be there, watching as the light snuffed out, delighting in his work.


	7. Chapter 7

For Zelda, the next few days seemed to go by in a surreal blur. She walked around the castle, she ate her meals, but she remained deathly silent and didn’t acknowledge anyone - not even Poe who tried to speak with her. Her mind had shut down; she didn’t want to think, because all thinking ever seemed to do lately was bring her grief. Even when she’d heard about the newest murder and the identity of the victim, she didn’t dwell on it. And when she’d heard rumors spreading amongst the staff of monsters treading into Hyrulean territory, she didn’t dwell on it. All the thoughts were pushed out of her mind – she didn’t need such negativity.

That’s what she told herself anyways.

The truth was, there was no way she could escape any of what was going on. In her dreams, she had all sorts of new nightmares. Dreams of Moblins attacking Hyrule Town, of poor Shiro being cornered at the end of the alley he’d been found in… and of course, with a new face in her head, she had new nightmares of Vaati. They weren’t like the one she now knew was a memory, nor like the one she’d had during severe fainting spell. She would have preferred those. The new nightmare was simply a reminder of what was going on – that the world all around her was falling apart and the only one she knew was telling the truth was the one who’d brought horror upon Hyrule thirty years previous.

After a week, she finally convinced herself that her attempts and numbly living out the rest of her life were not only implausible but downright silly. It was time to turn to the gods.

In the morning, she donned her riding dress and took her bow so she could visit the Temple. She was so used to being left alone and having the way cleared for her now, that the princess gloomily marched to the stables without expecting any disturbances. To her surprise, her father appeared as she was mounting Epona. Her gaze lingered on him for a moment, until she noticed the worry and pity in his eyes.

She was about to ride off, when he asked, “Where are you going?”

“Out.”

“Out where?”

Zelda frowned, but still did not face him again. “Just out.”

“Be careful; stay away from-”

“I can handle myself,” she snapped angrily. She couldn’t stand knowing that her own father looked at her as if something was the matter with her. Not giving him any time to respond, she kicked the sides of her mare and sped out of the stables and into Hyrule Field. Zelda urged her mare to go as fast her legs could take them, wanting to get as far away from that pitying gaze and closer to what she hoped were answers in the Royal Valley.

The princess rode into the gloomy valley, finding that the spindly, black barked trees reminded her far too much of her unpleasant memory of the dreaded Sorcerer Vaati grabbing her with black claws. She thought with some disgust that such trees were likely an excellent place for his little Beholders to stalk. He’d been creeping around her for ten years, apparently; it wouldn’t be surprising to her, but the thought still gave her chills.

The gravekeeper, Dampé, offered to watch Epona while she went into the Temple. She accepted, before heading off to the other side of the cemetery to enter a medium sized building of graying, white stone. The molding around the shoddy oak doors had carvings inset upon them, each carving corresponding to the symbol of one of the great goddesses. She entered, taking note of a leak from the ceiling and a couple of panes on the stained glass of the back window cracked and broken. Hazy light came in through said window, though the window was so foggy with years of unpolished neglect the light felt stuffy. When she was little, she remembered the building was so awe inspiring to her. Now she looked at it and couldn’t help but feel sorry for its sorry, decaying state. With no clergy or nuns to upkeep the place, its care fell into Dampé, himself too old now to repair the place.

Nonetheless, she stepped up to the altar and knelt before it, silently sending up a prayer to Nayru, hoping that the goddess in her infinite wisdom would see fit to grant her guidance in her time of need. How could she convince her father she wasn’t crazy? How could she rid the kingdom of the monsters encroaching upon it, or of the monster that roamed the streets of Hyrule Town and killed innocent men like Shiro? How could she be rid of Vaati, the sorcerer that had tried to achieve godhood through her mother?

But as she knelt and silently pleaded to the golden goddess, she felt nothing. She did not feel the divine grace of Nayru or any other god or goddess. There were no answers or ideas, divine or otherwise, coming into her mind. Yet she didn’t lose hope that she would be inspired. She stood and went to one of the benches, sitting down and determining that she wouldn’t leave the temple until she received an answer.

She heard the doors of the temple open and shut behind her. Curious, she looked back, not expecting anyone else would enter the dilapidated temple. Upon seeing the person who entered, however, her heart skipped a beat. Her posture straightening and her expression cold, she faced the altar again in her seat. Hopefully the goddesses were inspire her sooner rather than later.

Poe sat in the bench behind her.

“Spying for your _master_?” The princess asked, not hiding the venom in her voice.

“I’m actually following your father’s orders this time,” the traitor guard said simply.

“Whatever I say here is going straight to Vaati, regardless.” She said angrily.

“Then why don’t you tell someone?”

The girl pursed her lips angrily at the reminder of how hopeless her situation was. If she told someone, Poe could simply step in and say she had another breakdown. Unless she had proof of anything, which she didn’t, telling anyone was pointless. “You know I can’t. That’s why you brought it up.” She hissed.

“Sorry.”

“I bet that’s a lie too.”

“It isn’t.”

Silence came over the temple again. Despite the betrayal she felt, she still wanted to find some shred of good in Poe. Quietly, she asked, “Have you ever tried to fight it?”

“At first.”

“But not anymore.” Zelda said with dread; it wasn’t even a question.

“No, not anymore,” Poe said, “Because I’m happy.”

She looked over her shoulder at him, disbelief and disgust written on her face. It was incomprehensible to her how someone who was supposed to be loyal to Hyrule and its Royal Family could say such a thing as if it was the purest truth in the world. “How can you possibly be happy serving _Vaati_?”

Poe sighed, seemingly saddened by her outburst of incredulousness. He leaned back on the bench, staring at the ceiling, and finally said, “On your birthday, you mentioned you remembered me being hesitant to be a guardsman, but then one day it all changed. It all changed on _that_ day.” If she had anything to say, she quickly forgot it when Poe looked at her again. She had never seen the man look so serious, nor did she even have to question the day he was speaking of in question. “I never wanted to be a guard, Princess. I never set any goals for myself – everything was dull. I’m convinced that if the Master didn’t enthrall me that day, if he hadn’t given me a _purpose_ , I might’ve stuck a blade in my heart long ago.”

She was stunned at such a confession, but her face hardened quickly and she retorted, “But you’re a slave! Surely there’s a better purpose than that?”

Again, he gave her that sorrowful, disappointed look. “Call it what you will, Princess. I’m not going to try and make you understand; I’m happy with this life.” He smiled then, “If I’m a slave, then honestly, I think I’ve never been more free.”

Struck speechless, she turned her head and simply faced the altar again. Zelda couldn’t wrap her head around it. Such words had to be the result of such a lasting enthrallment. How could anyone say that being subservient to anyone else, especially one as infamous as Vaati, could be freedom? But then again, did she really know anything of freedom?

Her fists balled up in her skirt at the thought.

The princess was sure she knew. She had to. She rode Epona around the field, she took up bow training, and threw parties when the occasion called for it… _But if your father had disapproved or said no to any of it, would I have done?_ Her father had known she skipped lessons, but he said nothing. If he had told her to stop, she would have listened. If her father disapproved of her learning the bow, she would have stopped. If her father had flat out refused a party, she would have cancelled any and all plans. Despite being labeled as Hyrule’s “Willful, Wild Princess” she wasn’t really either of those things. She did whatever she liked simply because she could get away with it, but if her father had ever told her to stop, she would have.

When it came down to it, she always listened to everything her father had said and told her to do. Could that be called freedom? Especially when her next birthday came around, and she would take the reins from her father… Then she really wouldn’t be free. Not that she was now. Everyone thought she was crazy.

Her heart sank, and confusion again began to fill her mind. She tried to focus on the statues of the goddesses behind the altar, pleading for Nayru to clear her mind and impart wisdom upon her. But there was no response from the goddess.

Earlier, she had told herself she wouldn’t leave the temple until she received some sort of divine intervention. Now she wanted nothing more than to leave. Poe simply happily hummed in the bench behind her, a reminder that despite his subservience to an evil creature, he still felt as if he was free. And she, who was free in the typical sense of the world, felt like she was the sole exhibit in some menagerie as people watched and whispered of the troubled princess…

Abruptly, Zelda stood and walked out of the Temple hastily. She didn’t bother to see if Poe was following her as she took the reins of Epona back from Dampé. She rode the mare out of the Royal Valley at a gallop, not paying any mind to the direction she led the horse. What this would accomplish, she had no idea.

But as soon as she’d finally reached some sort of meditative state upon her mare’s back, Epona screeched in fright and suddenly swerved opposite of Zelda’s direction. The girl held tightly to her horse, looking around in a panic as to why the horse had such a reaction. The answer made her want to screech as she saw two Moblin scouts rush out of a thicket with their bows pointed right at her. But she didn’t, instead taking control of the mare again and having her swerve in a zig zag as she tried to look around and get her bearings. In retrospect, it was a terrible idea to ride wildly without paying attention to where one was going. But seeing as there was only one wooded area near the Royal Valley, she knew she was in the Western Wood.

She heard the _wooshes_ of arrows fly past her and gritted her teeth. The Western Wood was not a good place to encounter Moblins. She mentally chided herself for losing herself in her emotions and just rushing off when she knew perfectly well that Moblins had wandered back into the kingdom. _The Moblins were supposed to be near Mount Crenel, not the Western Wood._ She thought hastily. But if she didn’t get out of the Western Wood quick, she wouldn’t be able to scold herself any further. Zelda needed to find a way out of the forest, and she had to confess she didn’t know these woods very well compared to the Minish Woods. She kept riding, sloppily taking her bow from its holster on her saddle. She saw an opening between the trees and sped ever closer to it before a Moblin jumped out from behind the trees and blocked her path.

She already had an arrow at the ready, but couldn’t aim well in all the movement. She’d never practiced her archery while riding and was unable to easily understand the effect the bob of the saddle added to her aim. Epona whinnied in protest as they kept nearing the Moblin, who stood stock still with a spear at the ready. Before the spear was in reaching distance, she let the arrow loose. It whizzed through the air, hitting the Moblin in its arm and causing it to howl out in pain and drop its weapon. She’d been aiming for its heart, but she supposed that would do as well.

Epona sped past the beast, and the princess had hoped that she was now home-free, only to see with dread that she was faced with a wall of trees; there was no gap big enough for a girl on a horse to stumble through. She quickly turned the horse around, but the mare was now in a panic and being unruly to guide. When the horse had turned all the way around, the sight before them had been the last straw for the equine. A Moblin archer and two Moblin spearbearers were blocking out the narrow gap between the trees.

Epona shrieked, backing on her hand legs and sending the princess sprawling to the ground painfully. Zelda pushed herself up and tried to ignore the pain all over her body. She struggled trying to focus her vision, and suddenly remembered that those Moblins were likely still near. She scrambled up, taking her bow on the ground and an arrow that had scattered on the grass. The girl held up her bow, arrow nocked and at the ready. Epona, she saw, had sped off in a wild charge past the Moblins, with one of the three beasts (likely the injured one they’d passed before) had gone off to follow her. The two that remained had both their sets of menacing eyes upon her. The spearbearer held out its weapon before it, ready to go at her if necessary. But with the archer nearby, it apparently felt no need to immediately act.

The princess set her sights on the archer, trying to map out her possibilities. She could shoot the archer, but with only one arrow, what would she do with the one with the spear? She could try running, but with a dress on, even a riding dress, the creature would catch up to her. For the briefest of moments, she cast her eyes downward quickly. To her relief, there were more arrows scattered upon the grass. She didn’t think further. She loosed her arrow and immediately ducked down, some measure of relief coming over her as she heard a howl followed by a _thud_ upon the grass. Zelda scooped up another arrow quickly and readied it, turning her torso but not her legs so she was aiming at where she last remembered the next Moblin to be. It was coming towards her at alarming speed now, but she kept her composure, aimed, and let the arrow free.

Right in its head.

It fell down as if it’d hit a brick wall.

The girl had no idea that she’d been holding her breath until a wave of relief came over her and she exhaled. Her hands shook wildly, and she let herself fall on her bottom before a chuckle came to her lips. The chuckle soon turned into laughter, and before she knew it, she was rolling in the glass in a fury of hilarity. Tears stung her face, she was laughing so hard.

She had nearly been _killed_. Why that was so funny to her, she’d no clue. But she was alive. She _could_ laugh about it, and that was all that mattered.

But in her laughter, her head tilted back on the grass, giving her an upside down view of the trees and…

Her laughter immediately stopped. She rolled around quickly and scrambled up. No, the princess was sure her eyes had not deceived her. Sitting lazily upon a tree branch was the Sorcerer of Winds himself. She could have sworn that she had been alone, but it looked as if he’d been there the whole time… Had he? Had he set her up? She quickly picked up another arrow and readied her bow again.

But the mage seemed unconcerned by the display, instead staring out into the distance as if looking for something. “That idiot was supposed to keep an eye on you.”

“What?”

“Poe. I very nearly repeated the orders your father gave to him.” Vaati sounded bored, but he looked at her this time. “I suppose it’s a good thing you’re perfectly capable of taking care of yourself.”

“What are you speaking about?!” She cried out angrily.

He smirked at her, an expression she had the feeling he wore quite often. “Am I willing to guess you think I sent those things after you? I didn’t.”

“Then why didn’t you help me?” Zelda snapped, wishing her fingers would loose that arrow and strike true. “You could have stepped in anytime you wanted!”

“I could have…” He conceded, “But I told you before. I wanted to get to know you better, Princess – in this case, I wanted to see what you would _do_. How capable is Hyrule’s princess? I was curious. And besides, even if I did step in, you wouldn’t appreciate it.”

As infuriating an answer as it was, she had to admit that his later point, yet again, was valid. Even so, she was still incredibly puzzled. “What are you trying to accomplish?” She asked unhappily.

“I’m trying to accomplish quite a few things; but just as you don’t trust me, why should I expect to trust you?”

His answer just made her even angrier. Why did he always have to have the last word? Sorely tempted to send the arrow flying right him, she became distracted at the sound of rapid hoofbeats nearing. She turned quickly, bow poised and ready to strike at any new foes. Her mood simply became sourer upon seeing Poe on his grey approaching. The princess wasn’t sure who she wanted to point her arrow at now, but she kept it aimed on the biggest threat of the mage.

“What are you _doing_?!” Asked the shocked Poe. The only time she’d seen his eyes bugging out so much before was when he had accidentally put a knife to her neck. “What even happened here?!”

“Your gracious _master_ isn’t very chivalrous.” She said angrily.

Her comment apparently inspired a bark of laughter from Vaati, “Poe, you’ve never told me the girl has such a mouth on her!”

She focused her glare back on Vaati and snarled, “Like you wouldn’t know, keeping those Beholders by my door!”

“I have better things to do than constantly watch you; if my pets happen to pass by balcony, I assure you, they’re on their way to handle something else. Now I’d love to stay and chat, but you seem to be in a bit of a foul mood.” The mage responded simply. Yet before Zelda could respond, the mage picked himself up and balanced himself on his tree branch, looked at Poe and said, “My curiosity’s been sated; but really, do keep more of a closer watch on her. It doesn’t do anyone any sort of good to anyone if she’s captured by Moblins.”

“Yes, Master! A thousand apologies, Master!” Poe nodded quickly.

Zelda looked to the guardsman with disgust at his groveling. But when she’d looked back to where Vaati had been, the sorcerer had vanished. She scowled, but lowered her bow, her arms feeling stringy then from how long she’d held the arrow taut. Despite that, she was still ready to pull it back if necessary at Poe. But the guardsman just smiled at her from atop his grey. “I think it’s about time you got home, Princess.”

“I’ll walk, thank you.” She answered spitefully and she had begun to walk past him.

 “Princess… I… I’m still the same.” He sounded like a little boy, the way he said it. Against her better judgment, she paused and looked back at him. Immediately, she regretted it. It looked as if she had just crushed him, and seeing her turn back had given him some sort of hope. He edged the grey forward a little bit, “I’m the same Poe you’ve known. Why does the fact that I serve Master Vaati change anything?”

The smart thing to do, she knew, was to simply keep walking. But didn’t she at least owe him something? He’d been a brother to her, even if it was all just a lie. “Because I don’t know you.”

“But you do!”

“And you’ve lied to me!” She shouted. “You told the same lies as my father _and_ you’ve worked for the enemy the whole time!”

“Then I promise I won’t. I swear I won’t!” He said determinedly. “I _swear_. Please, princess… you’re my only friend.” A heavy silence filled the air before the guard couldn’t take it anymore and sputtered out, “I’ll… I’ll never lie to you again! You could ask me anything!”

And _that_ was what shocked Zelda, as she saw a sincerity in Poe’s face she’d never seen before.

_“I want you to know that while my brother and I may not be close, I know that any affection he has for you is real.”_

Had Gibdo been right in that aspect then? Did Poe really value her friendship? Or was this all some sort of elaborate trick… She didn’t know what to think. Everything was just so complicated and confusing now. She was sick of it. And the goddesses had certainly provided her with no answers. She pursed her lips, unsure of what to say or do… But she finally gave in. She wanted to believe in something – anything. He was working for the enemy… but Poe was still her best friend.

“Will I get a straight answer if I ask you anything?” She asked, wishing her voice didn’t betray her mental exhaustion.

Poe grinned, “As straight as an arrow.”

He was probably still lying, she knew. “I’ll think about it…” Yet despite the answer, she walked towards him, took his offered hand, and struggled onto the grey behind him. She held onto her friend, as he sped the horse forward and they made their way back to Hyrule Castle.

 There was a commotion waiting for them as they returned. Epona had run back safely to the stables, leaving everyone in a panic over the missing princess. They were relieved to see the princess return with Poe, but questions arose. Zelda simply said something startled the mare and she took a tumble, nothing more; Poe backed her up. There were insistences that she visit the physician, but she dismissed them, instead doing what she normally did most days – hole up in her room silently.

Poe attended to the grey he’d taken out, allowing the princess to have the time to think she so desired. Occasionally, someone would ask him how the princess fell, and he’d answer in the most vague but believable way possible. Soon, it was just Poe in the stable, trying to figure out where any of these horse riding things went. Or at least he had thought he had been by himself.

Gibdo approached his younger brother, saying proudly, “For all that used to gripe about it, you do certainly look after the princess.”

“I’m doing my job as a servant,” Poe said simply, trying to figure out how on earth he managed to tangle all those leather straps.

The elder brother lingered awkwardly around his younger brother, before finally saying, “I know the princess was looking for you the other day.”

That caught Poe’s attention. He glanced at the other guard, but then returned his attention to detangling the leather straps. “She was?”

“Yes. She seemed very adamant about speaking with you; she was very anxious and stressed.” Gibdo responded. The elder brother figured that the princess would have told her best friend about her impromptu visit to find him. “She seemed to be quite upset about something.”

“She got mad at me for lying to her,” Poe said with a shrug.

The elder guard’s expression suddenly went steely as he recalled his own conversation with the princess and her suspicions. “Lying?”

Poe sensed the accusatory edge to his brother’s voice. He looked away from his detangling to frown at Gibdo. “Yes, lying. The same lie that everyone’s been telling her – pretending like everything’s fine when that mad killer’s on the loose.”

The two brothers continued to stare at each other coldly for a few seconds, until Gibdo gave his little brother an apologetic smile, “I suppose that secret couldn’t be kept forever. You’ve made up with her?”

Satisfied, Poe returned to his detangling. “I dunno. I hope so.”

His brother nodded, “I wish you the best there.” There was another silence, this time fueled by the awkwardness of two distant brothers who didn’t know how to properly end a conversation. The younger grunted something inaudible, the elder gave another stiff nod and then began to walk away.

Yet Gibdo, despite the goodwill he wished for his brother moments before, was quite disconcerted. No doubt the princess and Poe spoke, but certainly not about the subject that the princess had brought up with him a few days prior. The two clearly also still had some sort of rockiness between them as well. The older man began to wonder, then, about his brother. The princess, despite her mental troubles, surely wouldn’t go around randomly accusing someone of a crime as grievous as treason without some sort of logic behind it. She certainly wouldn’t accuse her best friend of it without a reason, anyways. And the elder brother continued to brush it off as nonsense… but the thought was already there.

* * *

 

Zelda, in the meantime, had sat by her desk and taken up _Eros and Psyche_ again, trying to escape to literature and clear her mind. It didn’t work too well, as the mentions of zephyrs kept reminding her of the horrid wind mage. Of all the things happening, he confused her most.

He claimed he meant her no harm; he only wished to better know her. The events of earlier in the day certainly had her contemplating that. Vaati was curious about her, but she felt as if he was curious about her in the way a snake was curious about a mouse. But she couldn’t understand why. The Beholders had always hung around her, regardless of what Vaati said about them paying little mind to her. Surely he had to have some idea about her rather than just what Poe reported. And Poe was a variable in there that confused her about Vaati even more. Why have Poe as a thrall? To watch her, apparently?

A part of her wanted to say that perhaps Vaati wanted the Light Force and hoped to befriend her, trick her into it… But that was silly, as if he wanted to finish off whatever Light Force she’d inherited from her mother, he could’ve taken it from her as a child quite easily. So why even keep his freedom silent? And how was the seal still intact despite his escape? They were all stupid questions, she knew, as she should focus on resealing the mage herself… but she wanted answers as well. Especially answers to more important questions like, did he have anything to do with the monsters returning to Hyrule? Or perhaps even the murders?

Poe said he would answer anything she asked truthfully and straightforwardly. The princess wondered if that applied to any questions concerning the mage and his dubious intentions. Surely Vaati wouldn’t approve of that. _Or would he?_

It was all incredibly confusing, because she simply didn’t know anything about the mage really – only what her father and the histories said. She’d been so possessed of a fear of him, and rightly so if her memory was correct… but the last three times she’d encountered him, he’d been docile, albeit unpleasant. _Perhaps he really is being truthful…_ And it was a sickening thought.

A knock on her door snapped her out of these grim thoughts, but did not improve her mod as her father responded when she asked who was there. Despite the fact she did not invite him in, he opened the door and gingerly stepped in anyways. He didn’t stray much farther from a step or two from the door. She stayed seated at her desk, focused on her book, acting as if her father wasn’t even there.

“I heard you fell off of Epona today?” He asked with seemingly simple curiosity.

She was going to keep her answers short and to the point. “I did.”

“That’s unusual; she’s normally very calm around you.”

“There is a first time for everything, father.”

He winced ever so slightly at her distant address of him. “You’re all right?”

“Just peachy.” She flipped a page in the book before her.

Her father didn’t say anything, but shuffled uncomfortably where he stood. Zelda again had begun to ignore him, even though it seemed he still had something else to say. When it became clear she wasn’t going to acknowledge him, he finally said, “Holodrum will be sending another envoy soon. And we received news from Labrynna that they’ll be sending their own party. Cole expects they’ll be arriving within a few days of each other.”

 _That_ was news that interested her. She lowered the book and glanced over to her father by her door. She couldn’t read his face, but he’d taken the fact that she’d actually looked at him as a good sign and continued, “It’s been a long time since our three nations have gathered in one place like this. It’s business for everyone involved, but I was thinking, it’s unusual to have three nations represented under one roof. Perhaps we should have a gala of some sort to honor our neighbors?”

Zelda felt her heart beating fast. It was a glimmer of her life before Vaati decided to barge in a ruin her reputation. She knew what her father was getting at – she’d shown interest in the politics of dealing with the neighboring countries, and she loved to go through the details of party planning. It was a chance for her to bounce back to some sort of normalcy. The hope that people wouldn’t look at her like a loon. She tried to retain the steely calm she’d had before, despite her growing excitement. “I’d like to help with that still… if I’m allowed.” She said as levelly as she could manage, but she was sure some shaky excitement peeked through.

A small smile came upon Link’s face then, “Great. You can talk to Cole about the details… you know I don’t really have a mind for this sort of thing.” She nodded, failing to keep her smile hidden. Her father simply nodded back and then retreated out of her room.

When he was gone, she closed her book and stood up excitedly. A wide grin had come upon her, and she paced her room back and forth, already planning out the intricacies in her head. She could get her old life back; no one would think she was crazy! She wheeled around on her heel to pace again, but froze. For a moment, she saw something fly past – something like a black bat. And she was filled with dread again.

Even though the little Beholder only flew past, going to wherever it was assigned to go and not pay any attention to her… it only proved to her that her life could never go back to the way it was. She couldn’t ignore the fact that Vaati was loose, and had _been_ loose. No longer did she have the ignorance that he wasn’t there. He was. And there was no going back to normal now that she knew.


	8. Chapter 8

The hidden grotto of the Great Butterfly Fairy between the Minish Woods and Lake Hylia was just as deserted at the hidden cave of the Great Dragonfly Fairy in the Royal Valley. Link was more stressed out than he had been in years, now, with the knowledge that Hyrule was now truly unprotected from the grimy grasp of Moblins and other beasts. He’d heard tell lately, of Keaton returning to burglarize unsuspecting folks not clever enough to solve their riddles, and of Moblin archers wandering the Western Wood and scaring off townsfolk. As it was he had already pulled strings so that the Eastern Hills had extra protection so that Malon could still provide shipments of milk and meat to Hyrule Town without too much trouble. Brocco and Pina would no doubt throw all kinds of fits if they were to find that out – and they would, no doubt.

Link neared the pool in the cave anyways, just in case, some part of him hoping that this was all some cruel Fae joke. But it was just water. The prince-regent gritted his teeth, gripping the bridge of his nose and trying to think. Every time he had entered the grottos, there was no indication of what may have happened.

He doubled over at a pain in his stomach then, falling to his knees and gripping his abdomen tightly. It took him a few minutes of accommodating to the jabs of hurt that would spread to his chest before he could stumble back to standing. It was yet another one of the issues that had been plaguing him, getting progressively worse as Hyrule’s situations worsened. Link always powered through it, as the pain would eventually subside. He’d been attributing the pains to stress, which he’d certainly been having and figured as soon as he could find the root of the issue he would get better…

But as he staggered out of the grotto, heading back to the encampment, his thoughts only seemed to get grimmer. There were no clues whatsoever as to why the Fairies were gone, and Hyrule was such a small kingdom – if the monsters cared to invade there would be no stopping them… Relations with both Holodrum and Labrynna would suffer, no doubt. Hyrule wouldn’t be able to support itself much longer if this kept up, much less offer anything for trade. Help from allied countries, after all, was not offered without incentive.

The pain began to lessen as he kept walking, and the prince-regent began to relax more. Sort of. He still kept up his guard, carefully making sure his steps on the grass through the forest were not the bumbling steps of the more urban soldiers from the town. Yet, to him, his steps felt clunky. He was getting too old for traipsing about in the wilds, he knew, but he didn’t know how else to convey what he wanted the military to do, nor, by pacts made with the Fairies, could he tell the military where the Fae folk kept their lairs. He had to do all of this, to keep Hyrule safe, to keep _Ione_ safe.

Luckily, the Minish Woods seemed to fare much better than Lake Hylia as far as monsters went. The occasional octorok or rope crossed his path, but left him alone. There weren’t any signs of any larger beasts wandering the woods, only his own tracks. And he was grateful for that for more than one reason.

He very nearly completely passed one of the reasons, but he made sure to pause at the fork in the paths of the forest. One way led to Deepwood Shrine. He went down the other path, something nostalgic in the squishing of damp grass beneath his feet, and in the sight of the old, gnarled stump with the star shaped indent in it. He paused when he reach a shallow pool, more of a puddle really, with leaves that floated idly on the surface of the water. So long ago, that puddle had been daunting to a boy who couldn’t swim.

His destination was beyond the puddle though, so he easily stepped over it, put one foot in front of the other carefully over a fallen log, and to a large patch of clovers littered with pots, discarded shoes, and a barrel. To any other person, it just would have looked like a bunch of clovers filled with garbage. But Link knew what was really there. A small village teeming with little creatures seeking to improve the life of Hylians. But he couldn’t see them anymore.

Even squatted down with squinted eyes scanning over every clover, he couldn’t make out one little critter. It was sad to him. He knew they were there, that they existed. But somewhere along the way, Link couldn’t see them anymore. Childhood was so far behind him now. Though in his heart, he’d been hoping he could see them. Perhaps they could tell him where the Great Butterfly Fairy had gone. Or maybe the elder of the village could have offered him guidance. He wondered if maybe even Ezlo was in the village, popping in to say hello to its denizens and now seeing the giant, looming face of the now grown up boy he’d once called an ally. But Link could see no movement aside from the occasional drip of moisture dropping down and letting a clover bounce softly.

“Sir?”

Link looked towards the path, seeing a couple of soldiers looking at him unsurely. He stood himself up with some effort from his aching knees, “Yes, I’m here. Lost in memories.” He said tiredly as he began to make his way towards them.

The soldiers nodded, one of them saying, “There’s been little activity in the forest, sir; does that mean the Great Fairy is all right?”

The prince-regent’s expression darkened, and he shook his head. “I’ll brief everyone on the situation as soon as we get back to ca-” The need to retch came over him suddenly. He stepped off to the side, keeling over a bush, heaving. The men, startled, rushed to him, but could do nothing but watch as Link continued to dry hack whatever it was his stomach wished to repel. Finally, a putrid, foul tasting yellow slime spattered into the grass, along with droplets of deep brown. Link finally stood, tired and aching, with the throbbing in stomach back in full force. He could taste the metallic tang in his mouth.

He looked to the soldiers and saw their worried, near panicked expressions. One of his fingers trailed to his lips, and he saw why the men seemed so wary to say anything. He had a hard time acknowledging to himself that he’d just vomited blood.

* * *

 

Zelda tried to focus on scheduling with Cole. The little man was still a grumpy old sod as far as she was concerned, but he had come up with a perfect schedule of events. Both envoys from Holodrum and Labrynna would be arriving in about a two to three months (keeping in mind preparations and travel for both countries), probably within a few days of each other. So around that first week, it would be strictly business. Zelda, her father, and Cole would discuss the serious matters that needed to be addressed, as well as making sure that their guests weren’t bored out of their skulls. Holodrum was easy enough to figure out, entertainment wise. General visitors from there rather enjoyed activities such as hunting and riding, leading Zelda to hope that the monster issue would be resolved by the time they arrived. Labrynna was more difficult, as the past few decades the country had been completely cut off from Hyrule via mountain and seas. Past records indicated that the visitors from Labrynna had been more studious, preferring to visit historical places and learning the local culture. They could only guess that in the present day, it would be the same.

As soon as the visitors from both countries arrived, the gala would take place. It would be held in Hyrule Castle, of course, in the ballroom that had seen little use since Zelda’s grandfather’s time. The princess felt it necessary that it be a grand affair, as they had to make an impression on their neighbors. It was more pressure on her, however, as she remembered the bad impression she’d made on Holodrum via her angry snaps at Ambassador Plen. She needed to make sure that this gala would be an event that neither country would forget.

It became very clear to her within the next few days, however, that the necessary arrangements for the envoys, as well as the gala, could not be made until the problem of the monsters roaming Hyrule were resolved. Even more monsters had begun to appear, some of the braver ones even wandering into Hyrule Field proper. Those from Holodrum could not go on hunts or fishing trips, nor could those from Labrynna visit historically significant places without access to Hyrule Field and other areas that seemed to be crowding with monsters as of late. Transport of lumber and stone for the gala decorations would no doubt be problematic as well. There was still time, that was true, but she still worried nonetheless. Because if these things weren’t resolved soon, a problematic gala would be the best case scenario for Hyrule.

And the truth was, she knew that in the midst of all this growing chaos, planning a gala to save her reputation was trivial. But she didn’t know what else she could do. She wasn’t like her father, who could command military movements and go out into the fray. Yes, she had proven to herself that she was capable of surviving, but defending oneself and defending hundreds of other people were different. She didn’t know how she could make a difference, aside from getting friendly with the neighboring nations in hopes of receiving more help from them… that is if they were willing to help if the monster problem was done by then – and it certainly didn’t seem like it was going to be done anytime soon.

On one particularly stressful day, in which all the anxiety was catching up with her, she had retreated to the Castle garden by the normal fountain where she would play with the water. She loosened her bow and brushed her fingers through her strawberry blond locks and redid the bow using the water as a mirror. Even after her hair was perfectly in place, however, she still stared into the reflection of the water, though not at herself. Rather, she remembered the last time she was there and the presence of what she had thought was a bat. She knew it was a Beholder now. To her relief, there were no fluttering bat like figures above her today, but her stomach did knot up at the associations she could now put to that memory.

She had been keeping distant from Poe, and the man seemed to make no effort to reach out to her. Zelda found it a smart move, as the she was thinking about whether she really wanted to continue her friendship with the man. Also, she saw nothing of Vaati, but the princess was sure that the monsters and the mage had to have had a connection, though she wasn’t entirely sure how.

Zelda tried recalling the story of her father and his dealing with Vaati. She remembered in the story something similar had happened – Vaati had unlocked a chest that drew monsters back to Hyrule. She would have guessed that perhaps recent history was coming back to life, but if that was the case then monsters would have been popping up ten years ago and the remaining Light Force she inherited from her mother would be gone from her. Did Vaati really have anything to do with the creatures, she wondered? Or was she just so willing to jump to the conclusion that everything bad that was happening was automatically his fault?

She sighed when she realized that train of thought. _Zelda, you can’t_ possibly _be giving him the benefit of the doubt?_

But the kingdom was in trouble. Her father spent all his time out in the field, sometimes not even coming back to the castle. And she worried; even though she had distanced herself from her father in the last few weeks it certainly didn’t mean she wished anything ill against him. The princess wanted her father to come back safe and sound; it frustrated her that he felt he needed to go out and handle everything by himself.

Irritated at the lack of solutions and her father’s insistence on being a hero, she slapped the water of the fountain indignantly. When it began to settle, that’s when she noticed a shadow fluttering overhead with a reflection to match. She looked up, her brow furrowing in uneasiness at the sight of a Beholder circling.

“Princess?” It was Poe’s voice.

She looked over and saw the guard peeking out from behind the hedge maze. He seemed unsure as to whether or not he was allowed to approach further. The girl looked up, curiously, to the sky again at the Beholder, and then to Poe. No odd coincidence, she was sure, but she didn’t think of it too much. Because Poe could help her… sort of. He could give her information. He had told her he would be truthful.

 _You know he won’t. Vaati’s watching him._ The logical thoughts said to her forwardly. She could still recall Vaati saying how he would keep his lips sealed; no Poe was tied to that as well… Or was he? Zelda really didn’t understand the nature of Poe’s subservience to the mage. The guardsman practically said he was a willing slave, which seemed very contradictory. So she wondered if he still had any sort of free will. She supposed this would be as good a time as any…

And truthfully… she did miss him. No one had been willing to talk to her lately it seemed. Not even Mila or Agitha, her friends and second cousins. And poor Shiro, possibly the only other one she could guess would still be willing to talk to her even after all this, was dead. And even though she spoke with him repeatedly over the last few days, Cole was not counted amongst her “friends.”

Poe patiently waited, his brows furrowed in anticipation for her answer. Finally, she decided. She needed a friend and an informant. So she smiled tiredly at him, “I’m sorry, Poe. I haven’t gotten back to you. I’ve been busy with Cole making arrangements for the coming envoys… I haven’t had much time to think.” The guardsman seemed unsure of what to make of that response, but Zelda nodded and patted the space next to her by the fountain, “I need a friend now.”

A small smile came upon his face and he shuffled forward, but rather than sit next to her, he sat on the grass before her. Perhaps, despite her outward friendliness, he could still sense there was some uneasiness in her. He didn’t say anything, just sitting there, expectantly waiting for her to speak. She wondered how to broach all the questions she wanted to ask him or where to even begin regarding all her worries and stressors.

Finally, she sighed and said as she stared into one particular spot of the hedge maze, “Ignorance really is bliss.” The guardsman did not say anything, but looked at her questioningly. She went on, “I used to plan all sorts of events without a single worry. But now that I know everything, about the murders, all the monsters trespassing into Hyrule… Now that I even know about you and Vaati… Planning a gala just seems so trivial.”

Poe shrugged anxiously and mumbled, “It kind of is…”

A hollow chuckle escaped her lips, “Yes… But what can I do? I feel worthless, unable to do anything…” She didn’t bother to try and hide the negativity in her voice, the sorrow and frustration. The princess’s gaze went back to the soldier, and their eyes locked. She wondered if the soldier knew where she was getting at, where she was leading up to. If he didn’t, he was going to find out. “Poe, where are these monsters coming from?”

Again he shrugged, “I dunno.”

“Monsters encroached into Hyrule thirty years ago. Could there be a common factor between then and now?” She asked.

He squirmed in place and said unsurely, “I don’t know.”

“You have to know something!” Desperation and anger were in her voice.

“But I don’t,” Poe said, his brow furrowed but seemingly having taken no offense to her tone. “The Master tells me things on a need to know basis, Princess. And I don’t need to know.” Her mouth clamped shut, unable to think of a way to respond to her “friend’s” answer. She didn’t need to, however, as Poe went on to say, “But I don’t think he has anything to do with them, if my guesses matter much. He’s always busy, doesn’t spend much time on the ground.”

That answer puzzled her, and it likely showed from the incredulous expression she wore. It was a reminder that she really had no idea what the sorcerer was up to. “What _is_ he doing?”

Poe glanced up at the still circling Beholder above them, and Zelda wondered what was going through his head. Was he indecisive as to how to answer? He’d been staring up so long at the Beholder that she thought he wouldn’t respond. To her surprise, he did, and said to her, “I said I would tell you the truth, Princess. I’m keeping to that, even if I can’t tell you _everything_.”

Truthfully, that was more than she had expected. Despite his promise to be honest, she really hadn’t put much stock in it. And he really was being dreadfully honest in saying that he could tell her things, but not everything. At least that would mean no more lies… right?

“That being said, though, I don’t think he wants me to tell you anything about what he’s doing.” The guard confessed apologetically.

After a moment, the girl sighed and figured this was the best she was going to get. But she did manage to get something, though. Poe didn’t think Vaati had anything to do with the monsters coming into Hyrule; and he was the closest, the _only_ source, she had concerning Vaati and what he was up to aside from the infuriating mage himself – when he so cared to show himself to her, that was.

Yet this knowledge only confused her more than before. Because if Vaati had nothing to do with the monsters, why were they so active then?

To distract her from that train of thought, however, were the sounds of hushed voices and frantically paced footsteps along the stone floors right outside the hedge maze. Something was happening. She looked to Poe, who seemed just as confused as she was by the commotion. They both stood and made their way out of the hedge maze, a worried maid pacing the main entryway to the castle awaited them. As soon as she saw the Zelda, she gasped, “Princess, oh thank goodness, I was hoping you’d come out of there soon – I always get dreadfully lost in there.”

The maid was looking for her? She looked to the doors of the castle, seeing a couple of other servants helping the spindly, old doctor up the last few steps. The princess’s brow furrowed before she looked back to the maid with concern. “What’s happening? Why is the physician here?”

The maid pursed her lips, “Ah… it’s your father, Highness…”

Panic overwhelmed her. “My father? What happened?! When did he come back, is he all right?!”

“He came back not too long ago, Princess, but he retired to his room, the soldiers sent for the physician immediately. I’ve no idea what’s the matter but- Oh, no, please wait, Highness!” The maid had cried out as Zelda picked up her skirts and ran inside to the castle, Poe following behind her.

So many things could have gone wrong when he was out there playing the hero, she should’ve told him not to! If only she gotten over her stupid pride and told him about her reservations! The physician had evidently made it to her father’s room before her; a couple of guards stood by the door, and Cole was waiting expectantly outside. But the princess ignored the presence of all of them and headed right to the door. To her shock and anger, the guards crossed their spears in front of the door, barring her entry.

“Excuse me!” She demanded.

“The physician is checking your father right now, Princess. They need their privacy.” Cole stated in his pompous tone.

Zelda gritted her teeth, grudgingly acknowledging that Cole was right. “But what’s _wrong_ with him?”

The little man rolled his eyes in irritation, “While your father was gallivanting about looking for monsters, soldiers reported he retched blood. Your father returned shortly afterwards in hopes of remedying whatever ailment he has.”

Zelda backed away from the doors and put her back against the wall, sliding down until she was crouching down. Cole huffed his disapproval, but didn’t demand she leave. Poe neared her and squatted down in front of her, “I’m sure he’ll be all right,” he tried to reassure. But the girl didn’t respond.

Eventually, Poe was found by his brother. Gibdo seemed more adamant than usual that his little brother get back to his real work. Cole also claimed he had business to attend to and went off somewhere else. But Zelda waited patiently, and soon enough new company in the form of Malon arrived. The older woman didn’t say anything, but her presence was somehow relaxing to the princess. Malon seemed the only one who hadn’t really seemed to cause her any stress.

How much time had elapsed, she couldn’t tell. But when the doctor finally came out, it had felt like a million years to her. Malon stepped forward as the doctor quietly closed the door behind him, and she asked, “Do we know what’s wrong, doctor?”

The old doctor adjusted his glasses and sighed, “I can’t say for sure what’s happening, it’s all internal. In order to know, I’d have to perform a surgery, but that’s incredibly dangerous. My best guess is ulcers on his stomach. He’s been having pains for weeks, apparently, never bothered to tell anyone. Foolish, really. Stress exacerbates ulcers something fierce.”

As Malon and the doctor discussed treatments, like potential surgeries and whatnot, the princess’s mind focused on that one word: stress. Zelda had no idea what an ulcer was, but it was painful, she knew that much. And it was made worse through stress. Her father was stressed. She knew that. She’d always known that. Heading a kingdom was difficult work. But with the tension between herself and him, and the murderer, and the monsters…

“… If he were to vomit up blood again, I’d have no choice but to perform surgery – and that’s risky business even if he does survive the procedure itself.” She became alert at the doctor’s statement.  

If this stress kept up, her father could _die_.

Again she picked up her skirts and ran. She heard Malon call to her, but she ignored the older woman. As Zelda rushed past windows, she looked out of them, hoping to see bat-like figures fluttering by. But there were none. She could never seem to find them when she wanted to, but she knew someone who always seemed to have one nearby. She had to find Poe. She paused in her running, trying to rack her brain as to the soldier’s current location. Gibdo had said Poe was needed somewhere, but _where_?

Training grounds. He was at the training grounds.

She rushed through halls and out of the castle, ignoring the strange looks from servants and guards having no idea what the reason for her hurry was. She kept up the pace as she traversed the grass towards the training grounds, passing the archery range and the sounds of arrows _thudding_ against targets. She was heading instead for the straw dummies where new recruits sloppily tried to manage their spears. The drill sergeant was yelling at the newbies for their terrible skills with the weapons. As she approached, the sergeant was yelling at the worst of the lot to get a hands on learning experience with the assistant of the day. The assistant of that day happened to be Poe.

“Sergeant, please, I need to speak with Poe!” Zelda said in between pants as she neared the officer.

The drill sergeant didn’t look too pleased, “Princess, we’re in the middle of training. I know you and Poe are-”

“ _Please_ ,” she begged, “It’s an emergency.”

The sergeant grunted something inaudible as he thought of it for a moment, and then called out for the newbies to take a break. “And Poe, you come over here! Princess wants to talk at you.”

The sergeant went to mind the new recruits while Poe jogged up to the princess. “Is your dad all right?”

Zelda pursed her lips for a moment, looking back and forth hastily as if to make sure no one could hear her. In a hushed voice, she said, “Poe, I need to speak with Vaati.”

The guard’s eyes widened for a moment, and then he looked frantically back and forth in the same fashion she had earlier. “Just be to very clear,” he whispered to her quietly, “ _You_ want to speak with the _Master_?”

“I need to as quickly as possible. Please, I _know_ there’s a Beholder around here somewhere.” She was sure she sounded desperate, because she was. If she wasn’t, she wouldn’t even be asking Poe to contact the mage in the first place.

Poe scanned her face, as if trying to find some sort of fallacy in her expression. After a few seconds, he nodded and then hastily shuffled away towards the supply hut. She waited idly, awkwardly waving at the new recruits who were staring at her quizzically. When she saw Poe come from behind the hut, he gestured for her to come, and she hurriedly did.

When she turned the corner of the hut, Poe was waiting for her, and right next to him on a stack of broken shields was a little Beholder. “Now what business could the princess possibly have to discuss with me? I was under the impression you didn’t like me very much.” Came a self-satisfied voice from the Beholder. Evidently, the mage projecting himself through the little creature was all too pleased that she seemed to be a in a desperate enough situation to approach him. She dreaded what he’d sound like after he found out what she wanted from him exactly. 

“I still don’t,” she replied quickly to his statement, “B-but… I… I need your help.”

Both Beholder and Poe looked at each other in confusion. The Beholder faced her again, “Excuse me? Say that again, would you?” He was genuinely shocked, she could tell by his tone and the reaction both his vessel and Poe had taken. That didn’t mean she wanted to repeat herself.

“I’m not saying it again!” Zelda snapped.

The Beholder shuffled its wings for a moment and then took off from its perch, flitting right in front of Zelda’s face. She flinched at its close proximity, and she felt a shudder crawl up her spine as it circled her ominously. But as quickly as it flew around her, it perched back upon the broken shields, and Vaati projected, “You’re perfectly serious, aren’t you?” There was a sickening bit of delight in the tone. “Well now, Princess, if you want a favor from me, it’d be rude of me to hear you out through a grunt. I’d much rather prefer face to face.”

“No, this needs to happen _now_!” The princess demanded indignantly.

“Good! I don’t like to waste time either, so you best get moving.” And with a puff of purple smoke, the Beholder vanished.

Zelda cried out angrily, her hands gripping her strawberry blond hair in frustration. Why did the mage have to be so… so infuriating! “He didn’t even say _where_!”

Poe, however, just quietly mumbled, “Did he really need to?”

* * *

 

It had been the first time in a long while, it seemed, that she had ridden to the Four Sword Shrine alone. Poe could not come without getting in trouble, and she figured that when the mage made a fool of her she’d rather be alone anyways. Nonetheless, she’d never been so anxious in her life before. This was the first time that she was willingly and intentionally meeting Hyrule’s greatest threat by herself.

As per usual, she left Epona where the stone floor began before she entered. And again, as usual, the place was eerily quiet. She held her own arms anxiously as she neared the center of the space, reasonable confused as to why she was the only one there. Vaati could fly, so surely he should have arrived first. Or perhaps he was making her wait? That would be something he’d do, making her wait when she was desperate to get something done immediately. _Hah, look at me forming opinions on him as if I’ve known him forever…_ She thought to herself bitterly, unsure as to how she felt exactly about it.

“What kind of help does Hyrule’s Princess need from the greatest sorcerer alive?”

The girl turned quickly on her heel, the mage wearing the same smug look he’d worn the first time he had revealed himself to her in his Hylian form. She stepped back; even though he was feet away from her, she’d felt that he was still too close for her own comfort. But even with the discomfort she’d felt, she put her arms at her sides, balled up her fists and with her chin held high she commanded, “You need to keep the monsters away from Hyrule.”

His expression didn’t change immediately, but it did change. Something in those red eyes of his flashed with animosity, but outwardly it didn’t show. In fact, he seemed to be amused. “Oh? I _need_ to keep them away? Why would I need to keep them away? I don’t need to do any such thing – they’re not bothering _me_.”

“They’re plaguing the country, attacking citizens and preventing trade!” She ranted, “If Labrynna and Holodrum arrive to such chaos-” The mage held up her hand and she lost her voice. Perhaps the worst of it was that she knew there was no magic involved in it. The princess kept quiet because despite her show of bravado, she was intimidated. She gritted her teeth at the thought, but the mage didn’t rub her face in it.

“Keep the political chatter to yourself, such talk bores me,” he drawled. “Besides, if it was just about politics I’d be the last person you’d approach. You could still ask those other countries for help – they’d want something in return, though, and that would take some time. But you wouldn’t _need_ me. No, something else has driven you to me. Tell me.”

Her stony façade was breaking. Because, like all the other terrible times she’d spoken with him, he was right. If she was willing to wait, the situation of monsters could be grudgingly sorted. But she couldn’t wait. If her father was stressed too much more… The mere thought of her father undergoing surgery broke her poker face. With a quivering lip, she answered truthfully, “The monsters… my father’s been trying to drive them away, figure out why they’ve returned. And it’s stressing him so much that he has a stomach disease. If the stress keeps building on him, he’ll die.”

Vaati seemed completely uncaring to the story at first, but at her last sentence, a malicious grin came upon him. “That’s good news to me.” Her face was horrified, even though she really knew that such an answer was to be expected. Her expression, however, was very entertaining to the sorcerer, whose smile only seemed grow. “I may have no issue with you, Princess, but that father of yours is another matter entirely. I’d happily dance on his grave.”

Oh how she wanted to do something terrible to this man! But she kept her fists balled up and kept her rage in check, “Please, Vaati. He’s my father.”

“Yes, your liar father; and the man whom I hold quite the grudge against.”

His words stung, but Zelda kept her head held high. “He’s still my father. _Please_. If you really want to prove you’re no threat to me then please, just… just do something, _anything_ , about the monsters.”

The mage considered her for a bit, and she could see those cogwheels in his head were turning with some sort of scheme or another. Zelda knew coming to the mage was a terrible idea, but this was all she could think of. Finally, after what seemed to be the longest deliberation she ever waited for, the mage said, “I hate your father.” The princess closed her eyes, knowing it was over… but the mage continued, “But I’ll help you.”

Her eyes shot open again, not at all expecting him to have said that. Before she could even dwell on her shock for longer, he stated quickly, “My help is conditional, though. You can’t expect to get something for nothing, after all.”

And at that, she frowned with worry.

But he rolled his wrist at her, as if trying to brush away her negative expression. “Please, I’m not asking for much. All I want from you is a guarantee that you will not be trying to reseal me in _that_.” He pointed at the Four Sword, and his nonchalant demeanor had turned severe, “I want a swear from you that you will never attempt to seal me. I want you to swear on your very _soul_ you will never attempt it. Do you understand that?”

Zelda froze. Of all things that he could have asked, he had to ask of her the one thing that she deeply did not wish to grant him. While it was true that the mage had seemingly been harmless for the past ten years, what was the guarantee that he would remain so? She was the only one not under his service that even knew he’d escaped his seal, therefore she was the only one that could seal him. And if he was trying to make a bargain like this with her, she was now convinced that he was up to something horrid.

 _My father’s life is at stake here_ , she thought to herself. _My father for my country, potentially…_ How could she choose between the two? She was the princess; she was in charge of her country’s wellbeing. But her father… her father was her father, for goddesses’ sake! She only had one father, and for all his faults, he was a great father! But what would she be doing if she agreed to this? She might be signing her father’s death warrant anyways… _But… not if he really wants to know me, as he claims he does…_

“I’m not a patient man, Princess,” Vaati said warningly, disrupting her thoughts.

She had to choose…

“I… I swear. I swear on my soul I will never try to seal you.”

Vaati smiled triumphantly. But what was even more disgusting to Zelda was that he actually bowed to her, deeply and genuinely. “I’m glad we’ve come to this agreement, Princess.” He stood up again, looking even prouder than he had just moments before. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to keep up my end of the bargain.”

A strong gust of wind blew through the Four Sword Shrine, strong enough for Zelda to stagger a bit and to shut her eyes lest her hair get in her face. By the time the wind had died down and she opened her eyes, looking around the Shrine, the mage was gone.

“I’ve made a deal with a demon…”


	9. Chapter 9

The princess had returned to her father’s bedside with a sullen expression. Her father had reassured her that everything was fine, and that she shouldn’t worry; Malon even seconded the notion, stating that she’d be shoving bottles of Lon Lon Milk at her father to help with his ulcers. She worked up a smile, though she was sure the worry in her eyes was still there. They didn’t know what she had agreed to just an hour earlier. They had sent her off to her room, saying that she looked pale and tired from worry. She didn’t object to the dismissal, remaining silent and heading off to her room as if she was in a funeral march.

When she had arrived at her room, she simply sat at her bed and reflected, yet again, on what had happened. She had made a solemn swear to Vaati – a swear on her soul – that she would never sabotage him. It was a swear of power, more powerful than if she had sworn something like her magic. She had _wished_ she had vowed on her magic. She was willing to sacrifice all of her magic if it meant ridding Hyrule of the mage… but she had sworn her soul, her very life. If she broke this vow, her life was completely forfeit to the sorcerer.

 _I really am cornered._ Zelda had thought miserably.

Exhausted, mentally and physically, she slept dreamlessly.

She awoke with a start the next morning from a banging on her door. Cole was yelling at her from behind the door, something about her needing to be presentable at once. Her mind was still too fogged with an unsatisfying rest to register the words, but she rose and dressed herself. By the time she reached the entrance hall of the castle she was still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, but the sight of Fluriss and Gale sobered her immediately.

“Sorry to come so early, Princess.” Gale said apologetically. “It’s terribly important, though.”

“I should think so,” Zelda began with some concern. “Not that I don’t enjoy your visits, but the Wind Tribe rarely comes down unannounced.”

Fluriss let out a half-hearted chortle, “True enough…” and then her expression darkened quickly, “But we had to report as quickly as we could – a storm is approaching Hyrule, a large one! The biggest we’ve seen in years! It just came out of nowhere!”

The princess blinked for a moment as she registered the information. A storm? The biggest one Hyrule has seen in years? She began to panic, remembering the terms of her deal with Vaati. She had wanted him to drive the monsters away, but she didn’t think he’d do something like this! A storm so big would endanger the citizens as well! _He’s said as much that he doesn’t care for anyone but himself._ She scowled in her mind. But there was no time to dwell on Vaati’s serious lack of morality. The princess scurried quickly to a window, seeing the black clouds rolling quickly through the skies. “How much longer until it arrives in Hyrule proper?”

“Not very long,” Gale announced grimly.

Zelda bit her lip, “We need to warn the populace-”

“Not to worry, Princess, we realized how pressed for time you were; we sent messages to the town and that new village that sprung up. At the very least everyone should be indoors.” The younger of the Wind Tribe pair reassured to which the princess let out a sigh of relief.

“That said,” Fluriss added on, “We’ll likely have to intrude on your kindness here… we can’t fly up with that blackness in the sky.”

“Oh it’s not trouble at all!” The princess chimed in quickly, “I’m truly grateful you’ve gone through the trouble of telling everybody, not just us. And you’re always welcome at the castle, regardless.”

And from there, the princess went about the proper niceties, offering them tea and conversing with them as a proper hostess should. Or at least she tried to be a proper conversationalist. Not long after the two had arrived, the wind and rained slapped the windows violently; and as Gale and Fluriss chattered on about the goings on of their family in the clouds, Zelda would furtively glance towards the windows. It was difficult to keep her composure and appear as if she was sure everything would be fine, simply because she wasn’t. Already she was regretting not setting some sort of boundaries for Vaati; her people were in serious danger - the people of the new Kakariko Village, especially. Their homes were new, probably unfortified for a storm as ferocious as this. All she could hope for was that the storm would end soon.

Unfortunately, it didn’t. The tempest lasted for three days, although its strength seemed to vary. At some points, the princess thought she could see the sun shining through clouds – but as quickly as she thought she saw it, the sky would blacken again and the storm would resume raging as fiercely as it had been before. It was enough to send the girl into a private fury – she was sure the storm was simply living on melodrama now rather than necessity. She wished she had some access to the sorcerer – the interrogate him, demand him to stop. Even a sentry would do, but if any passed by her balcony at night, it seemed to be in a nature similar to that of ravens and their roosts. The sentries, she had noted, had relatively little interest in her, but regularly congregated around Poe. Yet she doubted even Vaati’s sentries could fly through these winds, and the fact of the matter was she had no idea where to even find one since Poe wasn’t in the castle thanks to the storm. And her frustrations had not gone unnoticed by her father, who would tell her to go and rest her worry away. And while she appreciated that sentiment, it also made her angry because her father really had no idea why she was so upset, and if she told him he wouldn’t believe her.

When the weather cleared at the end of the third day, Zelda did not hold her breath. She had prepared for the rain return with a vengeance, and the thunder to deafen the skies. Instead, the clouds had vanished, leaving a clear view of the night sky.

The next morning, she’d forgotten her propriety about seeing off the Wind Tribe visitors and simply stole away on Epona. She had kept her bow at the ready as she rode, noting that the grass was still wet from the constant rain of the past days, and various parts of the field were flooded. She kept riding, until she found herself back in the Western Woods where she had confronted the Moblins about a week or so before. The redheaded princess was cautious… but found no need to be. There weren’t any traces of any sort of monster. There weren’t even guays in the trees.

She then rode off to where she had heard the nearest confirmed Moblin camp was. She rode cautiously, again finding no need to do so. All that remained were the skeletons of torn up tents and scattered tools. Zelda even managed to find courage enough to dismount her mare (though still with bow and quiver on her person) and gingerly step through the destroyed camp. Seeing that there were truly no threats, her shoulders slumped in relaxation and she let out a sigh of relief.

Perhaps too soon.

Epona shrieked in terror as a black shadow flew overhead. The princess barely had time to register the horse’s fear as a massive claw plucked her from the ground, her bow sliding out of her hands easily from the force in which she was tugged.

In that moment, Zelda relived the nightmarish memory that had plagued her since she was a little girl. The claws of a beat, scooping her up, grasping tightly around her, her screams as the crushing grip of a beast threatened to turn her innards to jelly until she couldn’t stand the pain any longer.

_“Would you shut up?!”_

The demonic voice thrummed within her very skull, and it had accomplished its task. She clamped her mouth shut, not even realizing she’d been screaming. But despite her silence, her eyes were wide and she was panting madly, too paralyzed with fear to move any more than the bobs of six leathery wings of varying sizes allowed her to. Zelda tilted her head upwards, blue eyes moving slowly to view her captor. She felt the fresh scream bubbling from deep within her, but when her mouth opened, it immediately shut against her will. The single, red eye of Vaati’s demonic form glared at her with distaste. _“Amusing as your fear is, your voice is grating. I would appreciate it greatly if you would_ calm down _.”_

Calm down? _Calm down?!_ He wanted her to calm down, after he’d forcefully taken her from the ground?! While her fear was still prevalent in her mind, rage had forced its way within her mind as well, but her mouth remained closed no matter how much she tried to voice her anger.

The great eye staring at her seemed to glimmer with some form of humor. _“Now, now, Princess; I haven’t done anything wrong. I simply thought it would be easier to see that I had carried out my end of our bargain from the air.”_

Her terror had no taken a backseat to her anger, but she forced herself to steady her breaths. When the wind mage took notice of this, she had felt the vice over her jaws vanish.

“Release me at once!” She hissed.

Vaati’s eye blinked slowly. _“If you insist, but you really do want to take note of your surroundings.”_

The princess looked down and shuddered, unconsciously tightening her hold around the claw that encased her. They were not far from the Moblin camp she had investigated, but they were, however, very high up. Her hands balled up into fists and she sent a venomous glare at the great Beholder’s eye.

 _“I will take that as a change of decision.”_ She said nothing in response, but the eye seemed to have some sort of glimmer behind it. Amusement? Anger? Both? She couldn’t tell. _“You certainly are temperamental.”_ The princess wanted to scream at him; she had every reason to be infuriated! But she did not voice her anger lest she anger him, instead. The last thing she needed was death by that sudden stop at the ground. _“Well now, if you’re quite done staring angrily at my majesty, allow me to show you how thoroughly I routed those monsters on your behalf.”_

The princess was sure her face had to have been red with rage, but she kept all of her unpleasant words behind gritted teeth. Rage was quickly replaced with apprehension when the mage gave his wings a mighty flap that sent them hurtling forward rather than bobbing in one place. The princess had yelped, shutting her eyes quickly and gripping the claw that held her tightly. _“If you don’t open your eyes than my plucking you from the ground would have been pointless.”_

The wind mage’s tone had been annoyed in her mind, and she could feel the beginnings of some sort of anger blossoming beneath it. While Zelda didn’t want to open her eyes at all, terrified merely at the sensation of the bobbing of the Beholder’s flight, she reluctantly did so.

She gasped.

Zelda could see everything. Or at least it felt as if she could. She could see the woods sprawling out beneath her, Castor Wilds and the Wind Ruins, even Mt. Crenel off in the distance. She could see where mapmakers were mistaken in assuming that Castle Town was the center of Hyrule, and that everything she’d been taught was so much bigger than she could have imagined. At that moment she was just looking at one part of Hyrule from the point of view of a bird, with the air brushing against her face and her ponytail whipping along with the wind. Soon, she was seeing the Minish Woods, Lake Hylia, Lon Lon Ranch, and even her father’s childhood home. All of it, laid out before as if it were a map created by a master illuminator.

All too quickly the beautiful sight ended as they had come full circle back to the Western Wood. Vaati had lowered, hovering as he gently placed the princess back on the ground.

The strawberry blond girl’s mind was still in the sky for a few moments, before finally taking notice that her boots were planted firmly on the ground and her body free of a massive claw. The shadow of Vaati’s beastly form had also disappeared, and a glance to her left revealed that the mage had taken on Hylian form and had a satisfied look on his face. “Well?”

“That was amazing.” She said breathlessly. But as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she realized that taking her out on a view of her country wasn’t the purpose of that flight at all. Even more embarrassing was that the awe of the scenery had still been plastered on her face as she had spoken. The princess straightened up quickly, brushed off her skirts, and said in a huff, “Amazing that you managed not to wreck the whole country with that wild storm of yours, I mean!”

Zelda had expected some sort of rude comment or reply, but instead she heard him chuckle. The sorcerer had seen right through her. She looked at him harshly, trying to mask her humiliation with her gaze. But his amused expression did not change, “I will take that to mean you didn’t see any trash wandering about?”

The mage simply knew how to push all her buttons, she was sure. But she kept her composure. Zelda had managed to figure out that he relished her reactions like her anger and her despair. She had lost her temper earlier, but she would refuse to show him anything more. So she kept her head held high and said, “I did not… though, I can’t say I approve of the way you went about it. You very nearly put my people in danger.”

“Did I?” Vaati sounded amused, “You were actually there to see it then if you’re making such a grand assumption?” The princess frowned. She couldn’t understand why he’d be denying his neglect of her people. She knew he was definitely the type to only care about himself. Was he trying to make himself look better by denying it? Perhaps sensing that train of thought, he continued carelessly, “Poe informed me that you would be cross with me if any harm came to the populace.”

The serious face she’d worked so hard to maintain during this conversation with the sorcerer fell to one of pure bafflement. She still couldn’t understand it. Why did Poe saying that she’d be upset at him make any sort of difference? And with that question blaring in her mind, she simply asked, “Why?”

The mage rolled his eyes, “And here I thought you were somewhat intelligent – I’ve already told you several times.” She frowned, which only seemed to irritate him further. “What do I have to gain out of not harming your precious people?”

Clearly, Vaati wanted her to figure things out for herself. So she thought about it carefully, looking down at her hands scrunching the fabric of skirt. The mage had nothing to gain harming her people, just the same he had nothing to gain keeping them safe either. And she knew he was a shrewd man – the terms of their deal a few days ago being the biggest proof of that. And now that she remembered her condition of swearing on her very soul not to raise a finger against him with the Four Sword, she found herself truly confused. She was absolutely no threat to him; his storms could have plowed the villages through and she could do nothing about it, save more maybe trying to kill him with a different method and failing. He had the upper hand here… so _why_? The only other possible reason she could think that he’d go out of his way to make sure her people were out of harm’s way was… because she would be upset.

And then it dawned on her.

“Have you figured it out?” He asked monotonously.

She glanced back at him, seeing his bored and fed up expression. “… Is it because… you knew I would be angry?”

“There’s some hope for you yet.” His demeaning tone made her want to smack him, but she also saw something in his expression that seemed… proud? “Yes, Princess, it’s because I knew you would throw a temper tantrum at me. Contrary to what you may believe of me, I do actually somewhat like you.”

The last statement caught her completely off guard, and it must have showed because Vaati laughed at her. His tone sounded so genuine she’d forgotten she was dealing with the evil sorcerer of thirty years ago. In fact, she even felt flustered because he was laughing at her. Everything about the current situation was just… _odd_.

However, the situation soon went back to the norm. As soon as Vaati finished his chuckling, he said, “I’ve shown you that I’ve upheld my part of our little bargain.” The mage certainly seemed to be acting harmless before, but his gaze had changed to one in which Zelda could sense the danger. “I expect you to keep your end.”

The girl regained her composure and straightened up. “As Hyrule’s Princess it would be disgraceful if I didn’t.”

The cold stare remained on her for a moment longer… before disappearing as if it had never been there. Vaati smiled approvingly and then gave her a bow. It wasn’t a deep bow, like the one he had given her when they’d made their abhorrent little deal... in fact, some part of it almost seemed… playful? But before she could dwell on it, the mage quickly transformed back into his beastly Beholder form, bobbing in the air just above her, “ _My sentries tell me Poe has wrangled that horse of yours just outside of the woods, so it would be in your best interest to return with him to the castle lest anymore suspicion be cast on you. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have business to attend to._ ” And with a mighty beat of his multiple wings, he flew off.

Zelda was glad he’d left, though still incredibly confused. As she made her way out of the Western Wood, she found herself only getting more and more puzzled. She had thought that her conversation with the mage after the flight was the strangest at first, but now the whole experience felt surreal. And the only reason she felt it was so odd was because everything that had just happened seemed contrary to what she’d been taught.

Vaati was not a nice man. She knew this. He expressed delight at the fact that her father was in pain, seemed to not care at all for the wellbeing of others, had a superiority complex, and she knew he relished in her intimidation of him. … Yet despite all that, he had gone out of his way not to harm anyone in his great storm, personally showed Zelda that he had, in fact, proven to be a man of his word, and even laughed. Granted, he had been laughing at her, but she never thought she would hear such a… such a _human_ sound from him. Every time she had encountered him before, he always seemed to be the one in control, always with some snide remark and with a better-than-thou attitude. And even though that was most certainly still present today, those times when he wasn’t felt… _normal_.

Even after Poe happily greeted her and she was making small talk with him as they rode back, in the back of her mind she was still pondering weirdness that had been her experience with Vaati. Enough so that when a pause came in her conversation with Poe, the princess suddenly said, “Vaati doesn’t act like a demon.”

The soldier seemed caught off guard by the very sudden change in conversation, but smiled, “How many demons do you know?”

Zelda realized that it was valid question. While Cole certainly could act like a demon and sometimes she thought he hid horns under his hat, she knew that he was just a bad tempered old man. So really, Vaati was the only demon she knew. But even so, she was still _bothered_. “Poe…”

“Yes, Princess?”

“… He said he liked me. It doesn’t mean anything, really, but why does he even care at all?” The train of thought was frustrating enough for her to add a spiteful, “Or is that information on a ‘need to know basis’ so you don’t know?”

“I actually really have no idea. He treats me like dirt,” Poe pointed out with a strange gleefulness in his tone. Zelda could only look at her friend, trying to understand but failing miserably. Despite that, Poe added cheerfully, “But if I were to guess, I’d say it’d because he feels like he owes you a debt – and the Master hates owing _anyone_.”

 _Come to think of it_ , the princess thought to herself, _Vaati did tell me he owed me once._ It had been the night he’d been projecting himself through his beholders on her balcony. Because he owed her his freedom. Was that why he was being… well, she didn’t want to say kind. She wasn’t sure kind was ever a word she could use to describe the mage. But Vaati had certainly been considerate of her feelings. Sort of. And that, she realized, was what was making her so uncomfortable with the whole situation. Because now Vaati wasn’t some demonic beast out to make her life miserable, he was… well, he was a man, capable of laughter and doing things that weren’t entirely selfish.

 _He still tried to kill my mother and father_ , she reminded herself. As courteous as he was being now, she had to remind herself he was still an evil man. _He’s trying to drop my guard._ He could claim all he wanted that he was trying befriend her, but there was an ulterior motive. There _had_ to be.

But she didn’t have the opportunity to think further on the subject or ask Poe anything. As soon as they neared the castle stables she could already make out the small figure of Cole waiting for her, no doubt ready to scold her for leaving suddenly, how she was supposed to see the Wind Tribe off, and then continue planning for a gala she was beginning to find rather silly. Before she knew it, she’d already told Poe goodbye and was being dragged along behind Cole, already racking her brains to solve the newest dilemma the little man brought forward.

Towards the evening after an early dinner, as she was writing requests in one of the library carrels to second cousins for their cooperation to make the gala a spectacular event (a bothersome and unnecessary formality), she found herself staring out the window that was providing her with the light of the setting sun. _This is… trivial._ A knot tangled in her stomach as she admitted it to herself.

She supposed she felt like there were greater things to be doing than this, even though she knew this was just as important as anything else. Hyrule needed Holodrum and Labrynna after all. That’s what she told herself, anyways. Looking out the window was only reminding her how beautiful her own country was. Seeing it from a bird’s point of view, the princess couldn’t understand why Hyrule would need anything else. The maps always made it look so small, but Hyrule was larger than she’d thought. She had thought she had ridden Epona over most all of the mapped out areas, but she hadn’t even come close she’d realized.

Party planning, galas, grand dances… these were things she was supposed to like doing. And she _did_ like doing them but… _It’s just Cole._ She said to herself firmly. It had to be Cole. He was making her do this and that and drilling it into her head constantly, she never had a thought to herself. The princess had never worked so hand in hand with him before, but since this was a big, official event, she’d been spending more time than usual with the little sourpuss.

That’s what she had to tell herself, anyways. The alternative would be to admit that she wanted to explore Hyrule more… from above.

 _It’s getting late_. Zelda told herself firmly as the sun nestled itself behind a mountain. She gathered up her unfinished letters, deciding to finish them in her room after visiting her father.

So she left the library, nodding hellos to passing servants or guards who would give her strange looks. Such reactions only reminded the redhead what an outsider in her own home she had become as of late, dampening her spirits even more. By the time she had reached her father’s room, she managed to cheer herself up at the thought that at least he would welcome her with a smile. But just as she was about to turn the handle, she paused.

“-I… I just didn’t know what to do… I was so scared, you know.”

Zelda’s hand remained hovering over the handle at the sound of Malon’s voice. It was the older woman’s voice, no doubt about it, but she had never heard it shaking so much. It was as if she was crying.

“Malon…” And that was her father.

The girl knelt down in front of the handle, trying to squint through the keyhole. She could make out the image of Malon, sitting on the edge of her father’s bed, her hands wrapped in her skirt, tightly held in fists. “You’re a moron,” the woman hiccupped, “You always have been. You need to think about yourself more! Your daughter isn’t the only one who thinks of you as precious!”

And with that, she stood up and quietly walked away. Going in during a conversation like that would be… awkward. Nor did she really want to intrude on such a conversation. As far as she was concerned, that was a conversation between the two that was a long time coming. Even so, it did make her a bit heavy hearted. She couldn’t say why, and it kept nagging at her up until she reached her room and placed the stack of letters she’d been writing on her desk. The book she’d received on her birthday was on her desk. The story of _Eros and Psyche_ , a love story…

_“Sometimes you need someone… different.”_

Those had been her father’s words on her birthday.

Despite reading her book, the various propositions by potential suitors, and maybe some fleeting thoughts to a year before, she hadn’t really considered romance in her life seriously. She had wanted to consider it earlier, but then her life went ahead and turned upside down.

Zelda sat at her desk, brushing the cover of the book lightly with her fingertips. She sighed, finding herself jealous of the book’s titular heroine, Psyche. Despite all the trials and pain the girl had gone through, Eros was still with her, whether she knew it or not. The princess wished she had someone like that. _I feel like… like a Psyche without an Eros._ She thought miserably. Her father abandoned her when she needed him most; the person she was supposed to trust in was a traitor; and the other people around her didn’t believe her at all, feeling sorry for her and looking at her as if something were wrong.

And that was why she felt so bothered – because she was alone.

She could admit to herself that a part of her loneliness was self-inflicted. She’d cut herself off from most interactions with people after her supposed “nervous breakdown.” But now she knew it made no difference. Even if she tried to reach out, people would still look at her as damaged or crazy. Nothing would ever be back to the way it was. The only true sociable interactions she’d had were with Poe, and even that could never be like it once was.

The princess was alone, and she found that all she truly wanted at that moment, was someone to just be there and believe her. Overcome with depression at the thought, she slunk to her bed without changing out of her dress, hiding under the covers and trying to empty her mind. Instead, she could only hear a tiny little voice at the back of her head whisper that there was someone out there who was being truthful to her, did believe her, and in a strange, self-serving way, had been there for her…

 Her dreams were filled with aerial views of Hyrule.


	10. Chapter 10

As Zelda rode upon Epona with a retinue in tow (including Cole and his pony), Zelda tried to imagine what the bird’s eye view of the road was like. She’d seen it before, just a few days ago, but already it seemed so hazy in her mind. As if it were a dream she was trying to recall but kept fading away just when she thought she could remember the best part.

“Princess? Are you well?”

Gibdo’s inquiry snapped her back into reality. “Ah, yes, I’m well. I just… I had a lovely dream last night. … I was trying to recall it.” She lied. Or was she?

“Did you and Poe ever have that conversation?”

She blinked in surprise. It took her a moment to remember that when she’d been distraught over the question of Poe’s allegiances, she’d gone to his brother. For a moment, the rational part of her brain wanted to tell Gibdo everything, considering that his brother currently wasn’t on the retinue that day. Zelda could tell him everything about Poe and Vaati; perhaps he could even take the Four Sword and strike the mage down! But just as quickly as those thoughts came into her mind, they were shut out. There was the ever present suspicion of everyone now, that he wouldn’t believe her and think she was crazy. But perhaps more than that was… well, she didn’t want to tell him the truth. Poe was Gibdo’s little brother. Sure, the two may not have gotten along so well, but she didn’t want to be the one to break that familial bond. And as for Vaati…

… Vaati had done nothing wrong. He’d upheld his end of their bargain, had brought no harm to her or her father. If he wanted to do anything terrible, he had had ten years to do it but didn’t. His motives were still a complete mystery to her, but until she knew for sure that he was up to something malevolent she couldn’t bring herself to mention anything. For all she knew, he was telling the complete truth and he really was up to nothing bad.

She smiled brightly at Gibdo, “Oh, yes. You were right the whole time, Mr. Gibdo, there was nothing to worry about.” It wasn’t a complete lie – at this moment in time she really felt as if there was nothing to worry about. The monsters were out of Hyrule and her father would get better.

Gibdo’s expression remained impassive at her answer, and she wondered if he was perhaps suspicious of her answer. But quickly enough, the guard smiled, “That’s good to know. I was worried.” And the princess smiled back, deciding her half-lie was the best choice. She didn’t want anyone to worry anymore.

Thoughts of aerial views, however, were absent from her mind. She ended up engaging Gibdo in small talk, surprised to find that the man wasn’t nearly as boring as his brother had described. Their conversation didn’t have the chance to get any deeper, however, as Cole immediately rushed the princess ahead when they arrived at the retinue’s intended destination, Hyrule’s lone stone quarry. Cole began making the “proper” announcements of the presence of royalty, to which Zelda rolled her eyes.

Before the little councilman could even finish the proclamations, the quarrymaster came forward, futilely attempted to rub the dust off of his work gloves, and said cheerfully, “Ho there, Highness!”

Just as the man ignored Cole, so did Zelda as she dismounted Epona and cheerily replied, “Good day there, Sir Quarrymaster!”

“Now what brings Your Highness all the way out here? I haven’t seen ye since you were a wee lass!” The man said with a hearty laugh, as the offended Cole huffed and stood back.

The princess lightly laughed, “Now, now, you were invited to my party weeks ago, if you didn’t see me then, it’s your own fault!”

Another laugh came from the Quarrymaster, “Aye, aye, that’s true… But really, Highness, what is it you need?” He asked happily.

She nodded, retaining her bright smile, “Well, some of the walls of the castle are need of repairs, and we’re considering building another arch for Hyrule Town Square, in light of the visits from Labrynna and Holodrum.”

The older man nodded, clapping his gloved hands together and getting a look of determination on his face. “Aye, the castle walls! I always said they’ve been needing repairs… Lessee, the stone them walls are from…”

From there, the man led the Princess and her retinue through the quarries. Business was gotten down to, and prices and deals were discussed about the masonry repairs as well as the possibility of a new archway. The better part of the morning was spent mostly on deciding whether the new arch was worth it, and eventually Zelda was convinced that no expense should be spared when making an impression on the visiting kingdoms. The idea, after all, was that Holodrum and Labrynna would be visiting a kingdom they _wanted_ to do business with.

After the business aspect had been taken care of, Zelda had stayed around the quarry (against the wishes of Cole), this time looking at the statuary and other projects that the quarrymaster had at the time. Most of them were simple columns and supports, perhaps a small gargoyle to put on corner of a well-to-do family’s house, or small equestrian statues that children could play on. The quarrymaster was all too happy to show Zelda these things, bragging about his artisans and their excellent work. For the most part, she just smiled and nodded, forming her own opinions on what she saw. It was towards the end of their tour that the princess had found herself unintentionally ignoring the man upon seeing piles, upon piles of white marble, all packed and tied on slats and ready to transport. Some of it wasn’t even slatted or tied, just solid chunks of white marble. Outside of the castle, she had never seen so much of it. She even knew that these weren’t meant for the castle, either – there were no repairs or décor ordered that she knew of.

As she turned back to the quarrymaster, his words were flooding into her head now, “… t’s strange. The buyer of this grand batch has been making orders of this for months now. We’re always told to drop them at some part in the field and by the time we come back in the morning to check on it, they’re gone.”

“Have you asked the buyer about it?” She asked, curious to hear such a strange story.

The quarrymaster shrugged, “Never met’im.”

“Never…?” She frowned, wondering how that was possible. “Surely you are getting paid for this?”

“Naturally, Princess, but our buyer has someone else come and buy for him. He gives us all the rupees up front, tells us where to drop off he materials, and then leaves. It’s a strange situation, but so far hasn’t proven troublesome to business.” The way the man spoke of it, it sounded like this was just as normal as anything else. But it was still off putting to Zelda. Surely she’d be aware if anybody was buying mass quantities of marble like this – the nobility did love to talk about their newest projects and all the ways they could spend their rupees. But she hadn’t heard a word from anyone. Granted, she couldn’t claim to be as aware of the rumors around Hyrule anymore thanks to her self-imposed solitude… but surely the maids would have been saying something, right? Something was niggling at the back of her brain… though she had no idea if what it was had any relation to a certain someone who seemed to always be on her mind these days.

“The man who represents your buyer, what does he look like?” She asked, trying to hide the uneasiness in her voice.

The quarrymaster thought for a moment, his eyes eventually falling on Gibdo speaking to one of the artisans a few years from where they stood. “Ah, he kind of looks like that fella over yonder, ‘cept without the beard and a much more crooked nose. Granted, I only know that cause one of them windier nights ended up knocking his hood off. Whoever the guy is, doesn’t seem to want to be known – doesn’t even give a name.”

But the man didn’t have to give Zelda a name for her to figure out who it was. Poe was the one coming and buying things on behalf of Vaati, she just knew it. And that only made the girl a bit more suspicious of the sorcerer and his intentions… Why would he need so much stone? And marble, no less? If he was trying to build a fortress or something, such soft stone would never do. And when he’d taken her on that flight, she’d seen no signs of any grand building projects. _What_ are _you planning?_

“Princess? You have a strange look on your face.” The quarrymaster made it sound like a joke, but Zelda knew there was concern there.

She smiled at him, “Oh sorry; just wondering how the buyer of all this might surprise us.”

* * *

 

By the time Zelda and her retinue had returned to the castle, it was mid-afternoon. She remembered that she arranged for the maids to set up tea in her father’s room, the princess attempting to try and… reconnect to her father. But her mind had immediately flown to suspicion for the mage and his minion. She had taken off immediately to find Poe, ignoring Cole’s protestations for reports and logs. Poe’s normal schedule would have him getting off of his shift for today, if she recalled correctly. So she waited by the castle gates unpestered, the maids doing their now-normal routine of ignoring their “unstable” princess. She didn’t have to wait long before seeing that head of scraggly hair that belonged to her friend.

She caught up, “Poe!”

The guardsman turned around with a small bit of surprise. “Princess?” He grimaced upon seeing her expression, knowing it all too well as the one she wore when she wanted answers. He kept walking, but asked with a sigh, “What is it you want to know?”

Once upon a time, Zelda may have given him a mischievous smile and attempt to coyly pry out an answer. But that was before Poe had proven himself a liar. While he was still her “friend,” she didn’t feel she could ever act in her old mannerisms around him. Her smile was sharp and hawklike, “While I was at the quarry today, I saw that the quarryman was preparing a rather large shipment of white marble. But I simply have no idea who might have arranged for so much stone – I’m afraid I haven’t heard of anyone with such large projects within my own circles; have you?”

Poe’s face scrunched up, clearly unsure as to what to say. To the princess, this only reinforced the conclusion she’d come to. “I may have heard of someone but…” His voice was strained, “He really wanted to keep it a secret.”

“Well, tell him I want to know.” She said matter-of-factly.

The guardsman nearly tripped over himself. “What?!”

“You heard me, I told you to tell him I want to know.” She responded in the same tone. She had decided that if Vaati was going act like a power player, she would too. “If he really wants to understand me so badly then I’m sure you’ve told him I’m notoriously nosy. I won’t rest until I know.” The princess justified it by telling herself that as the soon-to-be monarch of this kingdom, she had to keep her enemies close. The deepest corners of her mind, however, were hesitantly admitting that just as he was so curious about her, she’d found herself wanting to solve the mystery of this heinous mage that had done absolutely nothing horrible so far. _I just haven’t caught him yet!_

The soldier scowled, knowing full well the statement of her nosiness was true. The girl was far from flighty, and she had a one track mind. “He won’t be happy about it.” Poe said warningly.

“As if I care what he feels.” Zelda snorted. She certainly didn’t care that he seemed to delight in her fear of him. But she refused to be toyed with any longer. This was her chance to one up him and catch him off guard.

And with that, she had taken leave of Poe with her chest held high, brimming with a sense of confidence she hadn’t had for what seemed like an eternity. The girl had to remind herself it was a bit silly, however, to get such an ego boost from what surely would be a rather pointless line of questioning. She doubted Vaati would even acknowledge the question, and even if he had it was surely inconsequential. Marble, after all, was a soft stone – not meant for anything like fortifications or anything that could stand much stress. She could only guess that it was some sort of vanity project, but if she could catch the mage off-guard in some sort of attempt to show that she was in an equal station of power to him, that was enough.

With that business out of the way, she went towards her father’s room to take tea with him, but found herself stopping at the door again.

“… -pposed to be here, but I suppose she’s not up to it.”

“Well, she has been busy with Cole, arranging that gala, right?”

Malon was there. She’d been visiting a lot lately… Zelda found her heart growing a bit heavy, remembering what she’d overheard just a few nights ago. What came of that conversation between Malon and her father, she wondered. They seemed to be closer than ever before… had they confessed? A pang of envy hit her heart then, and, as with the other night, she found herself quietly backing away from the door and leaving.

Her plans for the remainder of the afternoon had been derailed with that. She wandered the castle halls aimlessly, trying to cheer herself up with earlier thoughts of thinking how close she was to unveiling a possible plot from Vaati. But her mind’s eye kept envisioning her father and Malon talking together, just imaging her father’s hand entwined in the ranch woman’s. The tightness in Zelda’s chest increased then, a reminder that, despite her and Poe being on more or less friendly terms again, she really was alone.

She sighed as her legs had taken her to her normal nook in the garden maze. Zelda sat and hugged her knees, feeling more like a child than ever. She had thrown herself into this loneliness to protect herself from the insincerity of other people… yet here she was, craving a friend. And hearing her father and Malon, she found herself craving a deeper connection as well. With her face buried in her knees, she tried to empty her mind.

“My, my, I haven’t said anything and already you’re wallowing in self-pity.”

Her head shot up immediately, looking around fervently for the source of the voice that instantly managed to infuriate her. A little beholder was perched on the corner of one of the bushes by her nook, its red eye staring at her unblinkingly. She wasn’t sure what was worse, speaking to him in person, speaking to him through one of those little sentry eyes, or that he’d just seen her in a vulnerable state. “Ugh, your timing is _awful_.” The princess finally concluded. Despite it, however, she didn’t change her knee-hugged position.

“I didn’t do it on purpose, I assure you.” The tone in which he spoke sounded… sincere. A word she never would have associated with Vaati. It was certainly enough to have Zelda look on his sentry with suspicion, trying to detect what expression the man could have making on the other side. Automatically she assumed that he had to have been making fun of her, it was something he took joy in in every encounter they’d had so far. But he had always been obvious about it. Again, she found herself a bit surprised by the mage and how capable he seemed of behaving _human_. And as if to surprise her more, his voice came through from the beholder once more, “I can always lend an eye to listen, if you care to.”

Zelda stared at the sentry dumbfounded, registering those words. “Was that… a _joke_?”

The sentry’s wings raised and lowered as if in a shrug. “I’ll admit, humor has never been my strong suit, but it seemed appropriate to try.”

He had. He had attempted to make a joke. It failed horribly, it wasn’t funny, but the mere fact that he tried was the most shocking thing. “Why do you even _care_?!” The girl found herself blurting out without thinking.

“Hm? Oh, I don’t really. It just seemed appropriate.” The sentry nodded with Vaati’s words.

The strawberry blonde’s expression flattened. _That_ sounded right… but even so, it “seemed appropriate”? She didn’t understand. Why did it seem appropriate? Why did he feel the need to make it seem like he did care? She shook her head, attempting to reorganize her thoughts. This wasn’t why he was here. The infamous Wind Mage of decades past wouldn’t just appear before her to play therapist. “I wouldn’t tell you anyways.” Zelda spat, “Why do you have Poe buying ridiculous amounts of marble?”

The sentry’s eye rolled. “Really, Princess, must you always make me question your intelligence?”

“I already _know_ you are building something,” she said defensively, her arms coming down to her sides and taking in fistfuls of her skirt in annoyance. “I want to know what. I can only imagine it’s something large and ostentatious, dedicated to yourself.”

“Your opinion of me truly is low.” Her expression flattened again. “Well, credit where it’s due, Highness: you’re not entirely wrong. Though I dare say even you could appreciate my current venture into the world of the architecture and engineering.”

She snorted, “If it’s a vanity project, I highly doubt it.” Zelda felt that pride of hers rising again, with that rebellious streak already trying to figure out where it could be so she could put a wrench in his plans.

“Truthfully it’s more of a restoration.” He confessed.

And at that, the princess found herself staring at the little beholder in confusion. “Restoration?” Immediately her brain went into overdrive, attempting to map out that aerial view of Hyrule she’d seen not long ago. The only place she could really think of that actively needed restoration was the temple in the Royal Valley. So far as she was aware, no one had been going out of their way to repair it. “Liar.” Zelda concluded.

“Not at all, Princess. I’ve told you before, I’m the one person who hasn’t lied to you. This is no different. I had actually planned on telling you of it myself, though not quite so soon. It’s not ready yet.”

“Liar.” She would hear none of it. He may not have lied to her so far, but there was no way he could be telling the truth.

A sigh could be heard from the sentry eye. “You _are_ stubborn. Is this supposed to be an endearing trait?”

“I’m not trying to endear myself to anyone, least of all _you_.” She sneered at him and said smugly, “I think I’ve just finally called you out on a lie.” The princess’s pride was ready to come back full force – she’d finally tipped the scales in her favor. Or so she’d thought.

Vaati’s irritation was palpable when he spoke again. “Fine then. I suppose I can make an exception for you, even if it does ruin the aesthetic by showing you the unfinished product.”

She blinked. It was not at all what she had expected, even if he did seem to be very put out by it. The shock wore off quickly and Zelda felt a surge of determination go through her. She picked herself up then, stepping towards the sentry quickly as she demanded, “All right then, show me.”

The sentry eye tilted itself to the side curiously. “Your enthusiasm is noted, but the reward for it comes tomorrow.”

“What? No, show me now.” She insisted, her tone reflecting Vaati’s own earlier irritation.

The sentry picked itself up, its wings batting the air. She stepped back as the small beholder circled her for a moment and then hovered in front of her face. Zelda grit her teeth as she heard a chuckle from the sentry, again finding herself taken aback when one of the spare wings of the beholder came and poked her nose. “Good things to those who wait, Princess. Just come to the Shrine in the morning.” And then the sentry flew off into the sky, Zelda’s eyes following it until the castle walls hid it from her.

* * *

 

She had woken before the sun had even risen, riding Epona as fast as she was able to the Four Sword Shrine. Zelda had expected that Vaati would be present and waiting, but evidently she was more of an early riser than the mage was. Not that she had really slept all that well the night before. Her mind had been racing too quickly with possibilities, wondering what the mage could possibly be working on and why she was actually feeling a bit excited to see it. She stayed with Epona for a while as she waited, until her restless legs took her pacing around the Shrine. After circling the area impatiently, the princess had finally taken note that that sun was drifting down through the canopy of trees, its light glinting off of the Four Sword.

Zelda paused, looking at the shining sword from where she stood. After a moment, she walked up to it and knelt down to examine it as best she could without having had to touch it. Of course she remembered the promise she wished she could go back on, considering perhaps sealing Vaati once and for all whenever he did decide to show up. But the thoughts occurred to her in passing, as things she knew she _should_ have felt, but found her heart was no longer into. Instead, all she could feel was overwhelming curiosity as to how the seal, that should have been broken now that Vaati was free, was still completely whole.

Her mind flashed a memory before her, reminding her of the blood she’d found on the blade the night after her birthday celebration. It was obvious to her now that it had to be Vaati’s own blood, it was the only thing that made sense. His blood was tricking the Sword into thinking he was still sealed, probably because as a child she’d just barely cracked the thing. It was more of a peek into the seal rather than a breaking of it, Vaati had just exploited that weakness when he could. She sighed. _If only I hadn’t been such a fool child…_ But there was no use dwelling on the mistakes of the past, she concluded as she stood herself up and went back to wait near Epona. She had made a horrible mistake, one which was now certainly back to haunt her. But as long as Hyrule was safe and prosperous, she would deal with the misfortune she had brought upon herself.

The sun had risen higher into the sky, signaling mid-morning when the winds picked up and various little beholders began to flock into the grove of the Shrine, Epona growing uneasy where she stoof. Signaling the sorcerer’s actual presence was a strong gale that eddied itself into a miniature tornado, the wind strong enough to send Epona whinnying in displeasure and have Zelda covering her face to protect it from her whipping hair in addition to dust and leaves. When the winds died down, where that small tornado had once been now stood Vaati. He was quick to catch on to her presence, glancing at her over his shoulder before turning to face her proper and offering one of those mocking bows of his, “Princess.”

She kept her chin held high, refusing to show any sign of the fear she held for him on past encounters. It was made all the easier by the fact that he’d given her no reason to _be_ afraid since he clearly said he wished no harm on her. “Well? Where is it, what is this project of yours?”

He gracefully rose up from his bow, a careless smile upon expression. He pointed up.

Puzzled, she looked up, seeing nothing but the gap in the canopy that revealed the sky. She looked back to Vaati and said in her best haughty voice, “I already saw from the air last time nothing but Hyrule as it was. Be more precise.”

He frowned a bit, “That tone is quite bothersome.” But his smirk returned, “But amusing when I realize you have no idea of what you speak. It’s not _in_ Hyrule, dear Princess. It’s above it, in the air.”

The dots connected fully. “ _The Palace of Winds_?!” She gaped.

Her response seemed to please the mage, looking smugger than he had in their previous encounters. “Correct.”

“I- I want to see it!” Zelda blurted out, realizing too late her tone sounded a lot like that of an overeager child’s.

Vaati’s grinned widened, looking as if he’d won himself a mighty victory. “I did say yesterday I would show you, though you should be aware of the method of transportation.”

The princess had to reel herself back to reality to process it. There was a reason, after all, he seemed very self-satisfied. It didn’t take her long to figure it out, and she found herself unconsciously stepping back. Flight. That was the only way to access a place that floated in the sky. The redhead’s mind went a mile a minute, remembering the fantastic views from the air… but her fists shook remember the discomfort of being held tight by savage claws. The internal debate she was suffering was no doubt written on her face from the way Vaati seemed to be restraining a laugh. “I’m giving you options, Princess. I can carry you like this,” he spread his arms out wide, presenting himself as he was, “Or we can proceed as last time.” He dropped his arms then, and then added cheerily, “The last option is just taking my good word on this and leaving it alone until it’s finished.”

And that was what decided things for the Princess. His last statement was no doubt what he wanted – he’d been very clear he didn’t want to show off this project before it was done. She replaced the step she took back with a step forward, and said, “Fine. You may have the honor of carrying me as you are.”

The cheery expression the mage had dropped to stoicism. “Stubborn, indeed.” He then sighed a defeated sigh. “There’s no helping it then.” Without hesitation, he approached Zelda and then scooped her up like a bride, inciting a squeal of protest from the girl. He paid no mind to it, but the princess didn’t dare say anything through her burning blush. She could only ever count two men to have ever held her as such, and that was her father and Poe. And the latter had only ever carried her as such when she was a child all those years ago.

Yet despite her best efforts, she let out another squeal, wrapping her arms around his neck as they lifted from the ground. The mage was quick to give her a look of warning, telling her he was not about to deal with any sort of protest out of her after he’d given her other options. While there was no screaming this time, she was sure that her tight grip on the mage was giving him some amount of discomfort, but he made no complaints as they continued to rise into the air. Zelda forced herself to keep her eyes open this time, trying to peer over her shoulder to see the sprawling layout of Hyrule Field below. Alas, from the position she was being carried in, she found her view wasn’t as impressive as it had been when was in the discomfort of deathly sharp claws. The best views she could get were of the sky and of Vaati himself. Awkward enough as it was, she decided to focus on the former.

While she was missing out on the view of her kingdom, Zelda again found herself in a situation in which she could only claim amazement at what she saw. There was no comparison to it. It wasn’t at all like laying on the grass and watching the clouds roll by. Here, she was flying by the clouds, _with_ them. If she had courage enough, she could reach out and touch them. She was sorely tempted to, wondering if they felt like the cotton she always thought they may have felt like. Yes, they were supposed to be water… but water could feel like cotton, right? And through all the clouds, she could see the sky, as blue and clear as she could ever imagine, the colors so much more vivid than she had seen from the ground. Zelda had never thought something as simple as the sky could appear as beautiful from soaring in it as it did from peering at it from the ground.

The princess had come to relax then, closing her eyes and trying to soak in the newest memories of the sky she had formed. The sensation of soaring this time was pleasant, her hair not whipping at her face so violently but gently caressing her instead. Despite the lack of an easy view of her country below… this form of flight was certainly more tranquil.

When she had opened her eyes, she’d honestly forgotten to whom she had been clinging to. A part of her felt sick to her stomach that this man was the reason she was able to take delight in the new scenery around her. _Man?_ The princess had thought to herself. He’d had human traits, surely, but above all he was still a beast. When had she begun to regard him as anything else? Had it been simply seeing him in this form that had done it? Aside from his eerily pale complexion, she certainly couldn’t deny that his outward appearance was that of a handsome young man. Of course, the thought alone was enough to tell her that he may not have said any verbal lies, but certainly his appearance was. He had made his grand appearance 30 years ago already an adult, which meant that the mage was likely even older than her father. _Does it count if 30 years of his life were in a torturous stasis, though?_ If it didn’t… then he likely wasn’t that much older than herself.

Zelda managed to tear her gaze away from him, trying in her mind to put together this puzzle that was Hyrule’s greatest enemy. She never had the chance, however, when she saw a shape in the clouds that didn’t belong. It was still small, but she immediately attempted to lean in closer to see, prompting Vaati to clutch her tighter and gave her a disapproving glare. “I _can_ drop you.”

“S-sorry,” the word came out of her mouth before she could stop it, but rather than get embarrassed about it, she focused on the ever nearing shape. “That’s it, right?”

“I couldn’t imagine why you would get that impression,” he replied dryly. Sarcastic reply aside, the mage did speed up, and the princess let out an involuntary squeak. She kept her eyes on the incoming Palace, her heart thumping hard against chest as she now clearly made out the exact shapes she saw. It was an enormous, interconnected structure that layered and layered upon itself with open air halls, spired towers… or at least the standing parts did. Much of it, she could see, was in disarray, damaged, or completely fallen apart. But on what she guessed what the “port” of the Palace, were the large slabs of marble she’d seen at the quarry just yesterday. She could make out individuals by these supplies, bringing them together – an organized system of those ready to work and build.

Drinking in the scene, she had then noticed that Vaati had stopped in midair, making no move to continue forward. “Aren’t we going down?”

“To the Palace?” He asked, forking an eyebrow at her. “Not at all. I said I would show it to you, that is all. I don’t want you entering this place at all until it’s complete.” The mage explained it as precisely and as commanding as she had to him before they took flight.

“What, no – but I want to see! This place is legendary, I want to know the plans and see what’s happening!” She argued.

The mage rolled his eyes. “Perhaps you should pay a bit more attention to my workforce.”

She’d no idea what he meant until she made out the precise shapes of the ones Vaati had gotten to do this work: monsters. Moblins were untying slabs, peahats were grouping together to lift heavier chunks to certain areas, Miniblins were carving out chunks of the stone – all of them, working as engineers and artisans. It made perfect sense: Vaati was a demon of sorts, he had the power to command monsters. No doubt some of these in his “employ” were some of the monsters he ran out during his tempest. “So? What of it, I’m not afraid!” She said determinedly. How could she possibly pass up the opportunity to miss out on a tour of a place that even the Wind Tribe had no more access to?

“You should be. You can barely handle two Moblins by yourself with a bow, not to mention you have the barest grasp on any magical talents you may have. The Palace is crawling with significantly more beasts that would destroy you in heartbeat simply because they can. I _could_ put you under my protection, but I didn’t even want you here until the Palace itself was completed.” In other words, he was saying he didn’t want her there.

A power play. Here he was, showing her something she wanted dearly and now she had to sit and wait just because _he_ said so? “And what if I managed to get my magic up to par, enough to keep those monsters at bay?” He glanced at her skeptically. “I can do it! And you are a mage! So teach me!”

Vaati’s expression was blank. Zelda inwardly smirked – he hadn’t expected her to say anything like that at all. And then she saw it, a glint in his eye as if a new cog in the clockwork of his mind had begun to turn. It was enough to immediately shrink her pride back down in favor of a great sense of unease, but she kept face stern. She wasn’t going to back down. “Asking your father’s greatest enemy to teach you how to control your magic? Are you sure about that?”

She didn’t hesitate, “Yes.” No one else was going to teach the “unstable” princess how to use her magic properly. And the Palace of Winds, if she could just explore it, would no doubt have some great merit, not just to her own personal interests, but to Hyrule.

He laughed then, that strange, genuine laugh that Zelda did not know what to make of. “You _are_ more interesting than I gave you credit for, Princess! Very well, then, I’ll teach you. Hopefully you’ll survive it.”


	11. Chapter 11

There was a violent thud on the table. Zelda awoke, immediately standing from her chair, finding herself automatically preparing herself to send a charge of magic at the first sign of danger. She very quickly saw, however, that the only thing she was in danger of was a very frustrated looking Cole, who had just slammed an accounts book on the meeting table. She relaxed and let out a sigh of relief, slumping back into her chair. The reaction only proved to annoy Cole further, “Don’t relax just yet – you need to make sure everything has been paid for, it isn’t the time to take another nap!”

An unintentional groan escaped from the princess’s mouth, one she immediately wished she could take back. “Oh, all of a sudden getting cold feet about-”

“No!” She stared daggers at Cole as she snapped. Yet the ferocity died down quickly and was replaced with a dread exhaustion. “I… I just feel under the weather, is all…”

Awful little Cole scoffed, “Oh, planning to work yourself to an early grave like your father?” The comment was enough to get the princess’s temper to flare, but even she knew Cole was doing it on purpose. “If you’re really feeling as absolutely wretched as you _look_ , I am perfectly capable of handling things without you!”

Every word out of his slimy mouth had caused Zelda’s gloved hands to clench, but tired as she was, she couldn’t deny that she knew what he was trying to do. Cole was incapable of speaking a nice word to anybody he didn’t need to brownnose, and so this was his way of showing a rather foul concern for her well-being. She stood again, this time pushing her chair out and giving an apologetic curtsey, “In that case, I shall leave things to your capable hands for today, Cole. I really am feeling unwell, so I apologize for the inconvenience.”

Cole dismissed her with a huff, and she nonchalantly made her way out of the meeting room. But as soon as she left the room, she dropped the proud façade she had been wearing. Her shoulders slumped and her face fell, and her feet felt as if she’d been dragging Gorons by her ankles. She had been trying to maintain that strong front, but as each day passed it became increasingly more difficult to keep it up.

Zelda had managed to drag herself to her quarters, resisting all temptations to throw herself onto her bed. Doing so would have been painful. As it was, she’d had to hide the cuts and bruises on her person through long sleeves or gloves and trailing skirts. On top of Vaati insisting her training be in the dead of night, every night at the Four Sword Shrine, she’d had very little sleep. Her mind and body were straining under this pressure…

Vaati’s method of training had proven to be very… hands on. Vaati had not been exaggerating when he said “Hopefully, you’ll survive it,” in regards to his training. He was a strict and harsh teacher, leaving no room lenience. If she didn’t get it right the first time, he made his displeasure known and saw to it that she would learn – even if it meant threatening her life. His reasoning being that “The Moblins will threaten your life, so why can’t I?” She had to admit it was sound reasoning, but there had been instances where she had thought he would actually kill her. Goddesses knew that that first day, she truly thought it.

It had started off simply enough, with Vaati explaining that her bloodline, as well as the remaining Light Force, ensured her natural element to be light – an element she could bend to her will in a variety of uses from shields, blinding effects, to physical weaponry like the bow and arrows she usually carried. As soon as he had finished explaining this, he said it was best to learn by doing and immediately threw his own magic at her.  She had gone to the Shrine wearing boots that she had not broken in yet, not expecting that she would have to run. They had bit into her heels mid-sprint, toppling her onto the stone and allowing Vaati’s wind blades to shred her arms and legs. He then proceeded to yell at her for allowing herself to fall and not even attempting to bring up a shield. She found she was unable to conjure up even the weakest of shields until the third day.

She had given it a week, confident that she would be able to handle the insane pressure… But she didn’t think she could anymore, emphasized by the grudging pains that radiated throughout her body as she attempted to lie down on her bed. The princess groaned in her discomfort, finally coming to a conclusion in her head. _I need to tell him that I can’t keep this pace. It’s impossible._ Vaati had proven himself to be… reasonable, under certain terms before. Surely he would understand if she just explained it to him. She already had so much on her plate. _He’ll see reason, I’m certain of it._ She had thought to herself sleepily. After all, within the next month or two, Labrynna and Holodrum would arrive… it wouldn’t do to have such low energy reserves…

Her thoughts drifted and drifted until she finally slept.

It only felt like moments later when she realized there was a racket from her balcony doors and she shot up with a start. She looked around wildly, panicking at the darkness all around her until she realized night had fallen. Her eyes had little time to adjust to the darkness with the noise from her doors, but luckily she knew the layout of her room by heart. She went to the doors, catching the silhouette of bat-like shapes slamming against her doors. A pit grew in her stomach and she hesitated. _What time is it?_ In her head, however, she knew. She knew why his little beholders were at her door. Her hand took the handle, and again she hesitated… But she turned it, and no sooner had she turned it than the beholder had thrown her doors open.

“ _I’ve no patience for tardy students._ ” The beholder was centimeters away from her face as Vaati’s voice boomed in her room.

“I-I’m sorry-” she stuttered, “I overslept, I didn’t mean t-”

“ _What are my rules?_ ”

Zelda winced, her mind racing in a panic trying to recall, “A-attend lessons every n-nigh-”

“And what are you _not_ doing?!”

“I-I’ll get going right now!” She hadn’t finished the sentence before charging out of room, scrambling through the halls in her panic. If anyone saw her or heard her, a barefoot princess in a billowy gown with a wild look in her eyes, she had not noticed. She had run to the stables, ignoring the sores developing on the soles of her feet. To her great relief, Poe was there, having readied Epona for her and urging her to get going as quickly as she could.

“Hurry, hurry, the Master is very angry!” The soldier said, his voice shaking uncertainly.

“I know,” she groaned as she accepted the helping hand Poe offered to mount Epona. She had gotten herself settled on the horse and then took off, leaving the worried looking Poe behind.

Poe grit his teeth, and he glanced upwards at the beams in the ceiling. Several of Vaati’s beholders sat, wings rustling and solitary eyes gleaming. “Please, Master, I’m begging you not to be too harsh on her.”

The eye of a singular beholder fell upon him, and through it he could feel the glare of his Master. It flew off of its perch and hovered by Poe’s face, “She wastes my time, Poe. I fail to see a reason why I should condone it.” The tone was curt, as if Vaati was using all his available willpower not to explode in a fury.

“It’s true, Master, your time is precious but… Master, if I may speak freely?”

“No.”

“Please.”

Vaati remained silent. Poe decided to take a chance, “It’s just that… she trusts you, I think.”

“Don’t be absurd.” Vaati spat, the little beholder he was speaking through flapped its wings before Poe’s face in indignation.

“B-but Master, you’ve said it to her countless times – you’re the only one that hasn’t lied to her!” Poe began again desperately. “She doesn’t trust me like she used to, and she’s isolated herself from everyone else in the castle. Master, whatever you’ve been doing, slowly but surely I think she is coming to regard you warmly! That can only work to your benefit!”

The beholder again flapped its wings threateningly before Poe’s face, causing the soldier to flinch. “ _I’ll hear no more of your nonsense._ ”

And Poe kept his mouth shut then, nodding only once in confirmation before the beholder and its siblings flew out of the stables and into the night. The soldier could only hope that Zelda would come out relatively unscathed – it would be hard to explain to her father if she came home bloodied and damaged…

“Poe?”

He jumped at the sound of the familiar voice. “Gibdo?”

His brother was peering around the corner of the doorway. “So it is you, Poe… were you speaking with someone just now? What are you even doing here?”

“Eh? That’s none of your concern.” The younger brother said tersely. “But if you _must_ know, I got the late shift tonight and I’d heard a racket coming from in here. It looks like some brats from town snuck in and let Epona loose.”

Gibdo looked around, seeing that the princess’s mare was gone and the stable door wide open. But something about it was odd… “… I could have sworn I heard you talking to someone else.”

Poe rolled his eyes, “No one here but me and the rest of these flea ridden horses.” He walked past Gibdo irritably, “Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta report this to the stablemaster.”

The elder brother let the younger pass by without issue, though he lingered in the stables. Because Gibdo knew that his brother had lied. He knew he had heard two voices, though he could not make out words. He also knew that while Epona had left, her saddle and bridle were also gone. The princess… had the princess gone somewhere? In the dead of night? The second voice he’d heard with Poe sounded like a man, however… And Gibdo could not help but remember when the princess had come to him, asking him about Poe’s loyalties. Was his brother really… disloyal to the crown? If he was, why was the princess getting involved then? What was happening…?

* * *

 

The girl had arrived, and Vaati was no less irked with her than when she had stuttered her pathetic excuses. He had made his displeasure very known with her, making sure she recited his rules with each wind blade he sent soaring after her.

Attend lessons every night.

Practice spells during every available opportunity.

All surprise “tests” are to be passed.

Failure is not an option.

Unfortunately, she was failing. Terribly. For each wind blade thrown at her, she struggled to conjure up shield with that blasted light magic of hers. His blades tore through the shields like paper, slicing the pretty skin of her arms and legs. She would scream each time, which only made him want to send his wind at her vital areas. “Well?! What are you doing, flailing around and wailing like a dying cat?! _Strike me_!” It’s not like he wasn’t giving her opportunities. He wasn’t relentlessly sending his wind at her, much as he wanted to.

But she simply looked at him with wide eyes, more full of fear than he’d ever seen them before. In any other circumstance, it would have been delightful. Now it only annoyed him. That fire she had to learn from him seemed to have all but died out. And he could tell from the sloppy stance she took to make one of those pesky light arrows of hers that she was only striking because he had told her to. The arrow she sent flying at him fizzled out before even reaching him halfway.

And that was the final straw. He could no longer contain his disgust at this pathetic “student” he had taken on. With a careless wave of his hand, he sent a wall of air crashing down upon her, forcing her to the ground. She cried out, a sound he found most unpleasant to his ears at this time. “You are _weak_.” He spat.

“Please…” she may as well have been whimpering as she struggled to push herself up. But she couldn’t, and fell to the floor again pathetically. “I-I can’t take this pace…”

“I have no time for would-be students that waste my time.”

And then he saw it again, that fire he was so used to seeing from this despicable girl. It flashed behind those bright blue eyes of hers, that flickering light of determination. “I have a life outside of these lessons of yours, you know!” Her voice rang out strongly, barely a tremble of that fear she’d been displaying earlier. “I have a gala to pl-”

He cut her short, “You mistake me for someone who cares.”

Whether it was pride, anger, or a mixture of the two, he could not tell, but the girl had pushed herself up. “I can’t take this pace!”

The mage smirked, before willing the wind to slam down upon her again. She had expected this, and managed to keep herself straight for half a moment before falling to her knees on the ground again. He circled her, “You came to me because you sought power. Power is not to be taken lightly. Do you think it’s simply something that can be cultivated overnight, controlled so easily?”

“That’s no-”

Vaati stomped forward, causing her to flinch back. “That’s not what you meant, I know – but it’s what you are saying. I have no time for a would-be student who would not put the proper time and energy into their learning!”

“But I don’t have the time!” She cried out, her voice trembling more with desperation than anger. Pitiful.

He looked down upon her with contempt, her form reminding him of a mewling kitten rather than the proud monarch she so pretended to be. “You think because you’re the princess you would get some sort of ‘special’ treatment? That _you_ could simply be exempt from earning your power because you’re ‘busy?’ No, you _make_ the time, or else you prove to me you’re nothing but a _waste of time and the very little patience I have_!” The wind had picked up with each word he spoke, until it was howling around himself and the girl, the surrounding trees creaking and groaning from the force of his temper.

By the time he had finished his rant, the girl had been forced to shield herself by curling into a ball. She had a sense of self-preservation, he could give her that. The winds died down as he reeled in his temper, and he stood idly, waiting for the girl to sit herself up. But she did not. The princess had kept herself in her ball, and he could see the way she shook. The girl was downright terrified, as she should have been – he was a dangerous presence after all, it was about time she learned he wasn’t to be trifled with. Even so, it was disappointing to him. For all her talk, Vaati had expected her to have more backbone in her.

And that was when he’d remembered his ever so irritating servant, Poe, and his pleas for mercy on behalf of this whimpering little gilt. She had begun to regard him, Vaati, the most feared and powerful sorcerer Hyrule had ever seen…warmly. He could only smirk in pride knowing that surely she would not make this mistake again. She would stay in her crumpled little ball and leave him to his devices – she’d wait patiently like the good little noble lady she was.

Or that’s what he had thought.

Vaati had stepped away from her and was about to take to the skies again when the girl finally managed to sit up straight. All logic dictated he should leave anyways… but he was curious. He stayed where he was, but lingered to see if Hyrule’s so-called willful and wild princess would do anything.

“I… I don’t want to be weak.” Her voice still trembled, though it was light this time. “I… need to be strong. And if that means… I need to face this… If I need to face _you_ and your… your foul temper.” And to his great surprise, Zelda shakily stood herself up, and turned to him. There was fury painted all over her tear stained face. Any trace of fear in her earlier had all but vanished. “If that’s what I need to be able to face anything… Then I’ll do it. I’ll find some way to handle all of this.” She stood straight and proud, her chin pointed upwards in defiance.

At seeing this display, he couldn’t help but smile at her. He felt something within him, something like pride. Perhaps it was because in this defiant face he saw, he could see a bit of himself. Of course, he noted that upon his change of expression, her own expression changed as well. It was a small thing, something about her seemed taken aback. Her chin lowered, her eyes averted to a particular space to the lower left of him. _Mercy, he said?_ It was a foolish rambling of Poe’s. Mercy gave way to weakness. But something Poe had brought up that Vaati had admittedly noticed… She responded to him well when he attempted to show some sort of… caring, he supposed. It was interesting. It could continue to be interesting.

With that thought in mind, he decided that perhaps some praise was in order. “You always continue to surprise me – I mean that in the best of ways, mind you.” Her brow furrowed lightly at his words. Taking a chance, he approached her, though did not venture too close. “You have impressive magical potential, you know; Exceptional, even, for one of your bloodline. And seeing as how I’ve… met… with your mother previously, I think I should be a good judge, no?” She did not step back as he neared, though the mention of her mother caused her jaw to lock. But the princess pursed her lips then, and seemed to… relax, somewhat. _Interesting, what_ is _going through that brain of hers?_ “And it’s a shame that at the castle, they can’t see it. They would simply have you check seals, day in and out; dull work, a waste of your talents.”

Her expression seemed to have gone far off… and hardened. Her head raised a bit, confidence returning to her features. “They’ve never even considered…” the rest of her statement drifted off into a whisper on the wind, but he knew enough to finish it.

And now, for the true test. He had circled behind her, and placed his hands on her slender shoulders. Immediately, his touch froze her. It was not magic, it was simply presence. In her thoughts, he had guessed, she hadn’t realized exactly how close she had allowed him to approach. But even though she had tensed at his touch, she had found her voice, “Even if they could teach me more, they wouldn’t. I’m crazy, after all. And they’d teach me nothing but the managing of seals, as you said. You can teach me to be the kind of strong a queen should be.”

The grin Vaati wore could not be seen by the girl, and if she had he was sure her inhibitions would have risen again. “Yes, I can.” He told her, feeling her relax in his grip. “Now, dear Princess, since you’ve found your resolve again, let’s address that sloppy posture.”

Zelda’s face turned to look up at his, indignant in expression. He simply gave her a pleasant smile, “You could have shot me with one of your magical arrows earlier – but it vanished in the air. Your magical channels aren’t used to conjuring up metaphysical arrows, so train yourself as you would if you were using a standard bow. When the channels have been properly established, then you can try conjuring them in movement.”

Her unwavering expression belied that of a girl who clearly didn’t believe his words. But she faced forward and brought her arms up as if she were carrying the longbow he’d seen her use before.

One last test.

He put a hand on the small of her back, and the other on her rib cage, pushing lightly. “ _Proper_ posture: stand up straight, you should know this.” As per his instructions, she straightened further, and made no objections as to the placement of his hands. “Good. Now envision your arrow… and then it fly, right there into trunk of that foremost tree.”

A slight nod of her head. He felt it immediately, the surge of magical warmth erupting within her body, all be channeled to her fingers, forming the arrow in her imaginary bow. The hand he held upon her ribcage felt the warmth emanating strongly – the core of her mother’s remaining Light Force. Temptation swept over his mind, threatening to try and steal the remainder of that which he’d failed to take wholly so long ago. But he returned his focus to the girl’s arrow. She was concentrating intently on her target. Aside from the warmth of her magic, he could feel the pounding of her heart upon her ribcage – a quick, repeating thump of apprehension. The arrow on her imaginary bow was brighter than the one she’d conjured before, shining ethereally in the darkness of the night.

He let her go then, and he could see her eyes attempt to dart his way. But quickly as they did so, they were focused again on her target. She loosed the arrow.

Like a golden ribbon cutting through the night, it struck the target and splashed against the tree in golden dust. The light from the arrow now gone, the Shrine looked as dark as midnight. He could see perfectly, though – the perks of being a demonic sorcerer. The princess’s own eyes, however, had to readjust to the darkness. She turned around, a broad grin on her face, trying to find Vaati in the darkness. The smile on the girl wavered when seemingly could not find him. He stepped forward towards her, tapping her on the shoulder to indicate his presence.

She locked onto him then, looking like an excited chld. “I – you were right! And I did it!” Something seemed to dawn on her then, and she was back to looking like the petulant girl she was. It was enough to make his prideful smile fall to a flat line of distaste. “I did better than the other times where you just flung magic at me and just expected me to know!”

It pained him to admit that it had been a correct observation. He was rather glad she was likely still having trouble seeing his face as he conceded, “It seems I may have gotten my hopes too high in expecting that danger would help you to hone your instincts. We shall have to see about changing your curriculum then? Learn the procedure… and then avoid the danger.”

He didn’t have to have perfect night vision to see that she was displeased with that response, but after a moment, she finally responded with, “… Fine.” It seemed she was learning that he wasn’t one to radically change up what he thought was the perfect learning method. Goddesses knew her _father_ seemed to have had a knack for picking up irritating skills while in the midst of danger. But there was a sick sense of delight in knowing that this girl could never use anything she learned here against him. And in his good mood he said, “I have to say it’s the first time you’ve truly impressed me since we’ve begun.”

He could tell she’d regained her nightvision when she looked him right in the eyes with that irritating little spark of defiance. Vaati had to admit… it was insufferable, absolutely enraging really, how she dared to look at him like that. He rather liked it – a reminder of precisely what his grand scheme would come to. The mage had to commend her for that as well. “You’ve done well, Princess.”

It was that one statement out of his mouth that had tied in all the noteworthy things he had observed of this pretty little princess that night. She smiled anxiously as a flush came upon her fair face – one that would have been hidden to those incapable of seeing in the pitch darkness of night. A flush that tied in how his words manipulated her, how close she had allowed him to get, to not even object when he laid his hands on her, all tied in with her blush. Vaati sent the girl off then, doing his best to hide his wicked grin until she was out of sight. A chuckle escaped his lips as he echoed Poe’s words within his mind, _It can only work to my benefit._ And, oh, how much more delight going down _this_ path would bring.


	12. Chapter 12

“And with the signing of all the catering agreements done, and the official postponement of the Harvest Festival celebrations, I do believe everything is accounted for regarding the Gala.” The princess of Hyrule proclaimed proudly and she straightened the stack of papers on the table and then slid them to Chancellor Cole. The little man’s pinched face did not change expression as he took the papers hastily and sifted through them. His beady eyes didn’t miss a beat when it came to checking over signatures and royal seals, and when he was satisfied that everything seemed to be in order, his expression actually softened. It surprised Zelda, unused to seeing him wear anything on his face other than his normal sourness, but she simply smiled the smile she had developed over the past couple of weeks: her political smile.

“It seems everything that’s left is simply supervision of events as they come now.” His voice was light, almost shocked. And then his face twisted back into that ugly little sneer he always wore, looking up at her with disgust, “I suppose you aren’t a completely incompetent little girl now.” She kept her political smile on, fighting the urge to smack him. As it was, she was already charging and discharging light magic at her fingertips – after all, with Vaati as brutal a teacher as he was, she had to find ways to practice whenever she could.

But she kept her composure and mask, allowing Cole to continue his condescending words, “You can be full of surprises when you want to be, can’t you? But even insufferable girls deserve rewards for jobs well done. I can handle the supervision until the envoys arrive, so you can go and ride that horse of yours or whatever it is you like to do until then.”

Again, he surprised her, being so uncustomarily nice. She must’ve really impressed him. The Princess almost sniffed in her disgust, but she simply kept flexing the magic at her fingertips as she offered a small curtsey, “Thank you very much, Chancellor, I am glad for the reprieve, even if it is only for a few days.” She stood up again, maintaining her fake smile as she nodded and finished with, “I’ll be taking my leave now.”

He shooed her off, and she all too happily left, dropping her pleasant façade as she marched out of the door of the castle meeting room. Cole was never pleasant to deal with, but she had been learning how to better control her obvious disgust of him. Mostly because trying to channel her magic worked better, she found, when she managed to keep a level head. Trying to train in strengthening her magical channels at first when she was so obviously annoyed with Cole accidentally resulted a curtain pole smashing down to the floor fantastically when she took it upon herself to train in secret during the days.

But as she marched back to her room, her annoyance faded and a proud smile gradually came to her lips. _My hard work is paying off!_

She had dedicated the past two weeks to getting all preparations for the ambassadors done as efficiently and swiftly as possible, all so she could try and prepare (which normally consisted of taking a nap) for her training with Vaati later. As she kept up the intensive pace, she had taken chances with practicing the small things as she worked on Gala preparations and such, while also handling businesses in such a no nonsense fashion she managed to get released from her duties a little earlier each day. It had gotten to the point where she could get a normal night’s sleep since she could replace her nightly training with afternoon training.

And today marked a real achievement – a vacation of sorts. Most importantly, it was just before noon. She could spend the whole afternoon perfecting her craft with Vaati! While he had seemed to require a certain learning curb, the new lesson plans he had were much more effective. Run to the ground as she was by these lessons, she could already feel more self-assured and confident in herself as a mage – something she never would have even thought of a few months ago. She was even willing to bet that at her current rate of study, a monster would surely think twice before coming after her!

No time was wasted as she entered her room and tossed her normal regal wear to the side, immediately putting on a riding dress before she headed right out the door again. The heels of her riding boots clicked along the halls, servants stepping out of her way. She held her chin high as she walked past them, her pride having swelled her chest as she even felt no one looked at her like she was crazy anymore. Now they were simply fascinated by how their princess had changed – or so she liked to have thought. But she wouldn’t waste her time with them – not with people who so easily doubted and shunned her in her moments of distress.

Her confident strut never ceased as she made her way to the stables, she never even went out of her way to nod in acknowledgment at those she passed. Even when she heard steps come in time with hers she paid no mind until she heard Poe’s familiar voice, “Princess, you’re out early. Heading for a ride?”

Zelda brightened a bit. “Yes, I am. I find that the more I effort I put into my rides, the more skillful I become.” Ordinary small talk to anyone else, but not to Poe. From his position slightly behind and to her side, the soldier smiled. “Would you like to join me, Poe?”

“Of course, Princess.”

And they continued to march to the stables, making normal small talk upon getting there as the stable boy prepared Epona and the horse that Poe would be using. Since she felt like she was on top of the world, she thought her mood couldn’t be brought down… until it was.

She heard Malon’s voice entering the stable, along with someone else’s.

Her father walked in, immediately taking notice of his daughter in the stables. The girl stiffened, focusing her attention back on Poe. But Link apologized to Malon and went to approach his daughter. “Ione.”

Being addressed as such, she couldn’t ignore him. She brought up the political smile she had mastered as she looked at him, “Father,” she nodded.

“I ran into Cole on the way here; he tells me everything is prepared?” His words came out with a bit of hesitation, as if he wasn’t sure if he was saying the right words. Zelda kept her smile, but her insides twisted.

 _Trying to pretend like nothing’s changed at all._ She thought bitterly. Her father was her father, and she loved him - nothing would change that. But the rift between them only seemed to be growing larger, because never once did apologize for his lies or his disbelief of her. Planning the gala was his way of trying to repair this rift, she knew, but to her it simply wasn’t working. “Yes; Cole and I have worked very hard to make the visit of our foreign friends one they won’t soon forget.”

Her father seemed to brighten, and he opened his mouth the say something, but then hesitated. Zelda furrowed her brow ever so slightly. A few months ago, he simply would have spoken his mind. Now he doubted his words to her. _See, all your pretending means nothing if you can’t follow through._ He opened his mouth, and she could hear his voice about to form some sort of word, but the stable boy interrupted as he brought the horses. Zelda cheerfully said, “I’m sorry, Father, we’ll have to speak some other time. I’m looking forward to my ride with Epona very much, so I’ll be on my way.”

Hastily, with Poe following suit, she hopped aboard her mare and galloped away. Away from the lies and disappointment, towards truth and _real_ opportunity.

Link simply watched in sadness as his daughter so quickly departed from his side. What had happened to them, he wondered. He couldn’t pinpoint the exact moment it went wrong. Had he really failed so much as a parent? Did she hate him that much? Malon squeezed his shoulder, and he reached for her comforting hand upon said shoulder. “She had to enter that rebellious teen stage at some point… She’ll come around, you’ll see.”

Her voice held hope enough for both of them, because Link certainly hadn’t felt it. Teenage rebellion was one thing, but this felt like so much more. He had wounded his child, wounded her in such a way that she pushed him away at every turn. She had been leaving the castle every chance she got, and while he didn’t worry for her safety, as Poe was almost always a long, he wondered what it was she had found that she had come to love so much more than her home. As he understood it, she hadn’t even been going to Castle Town that much – her cousin Mila was always asking about her. He could only hope that someday soon she could forgive him, for whatever he had done.

* * *

 

“Today we shall try something different.” Vaati had announced. But given the way he proudly stood within the Shrine in front of the Four Sword, his hands resting upon the pommel of a sword standing upright in the ground she’d never seen before, she thought the announcement was rather redundant. “What do you know of swordplay?”

Zelda crossed her arms, her brow furrowed uncertainly. “The sword is… unladylike, so I was told. A sword is a man’s weapon, requiring reach and strength, while a bow could be handled by both sexes. That’s why I was allowed to train in the use of a bow when I was younger, but not a sword.” She hardly saw how swordplay and magic had anything to do with each other.

Vaati must have seen it differently, though he didn’t seem all that surprised. “Tsk, tsk. Hyrule can be truly backwards sometimes. Pulling the string back of a bow is quite hard work, I hardly see how a woman could pull a string like that back yet not be able to handle a sword. No, no, you’ll be receiving a lesson in swordplay today.” He nodded assuredly.

The princess’s face fell into an expression of complete shock. “Excuse me? But why? What does this have to do-”

A gust of wind smacked her upon the face, making her wince and step back. Fire erupted behind her eyes as she glared at Vaati, who had gone from his normal smugness to his other default expression: annoyance. “Because I said so. But since you have an annoying desire to know everything, dexterity is important in any battle situation. Say, for instance, that you didn’t have access to your darling Light Arrows for some reason, or even a standard bow. What would you do then? The sword is more versatile than your bow – the things you learn from swordplay can be applied to any practical situation regardless if you have a blade in your hand or not.” His words were concise and to the point, but she could feel the impatience in them.

After a moment, she bowed her head down, “Thank you. I understand now.” She knew he hated to explain himself, she knew it all too well, in fact. That he was explaining to her now was… pushing the limit. And she did appreciate it. “But… I’m afraid I wasn’t expecting this. I didn’t bring a sword.”

The wind mage scoffed. “Why do you think I made that ignoramus follow you today?”

Footsteps neared her, and she looked over her shoulder to see Poe smiling at her while offering his own sword. Blankly she blinked for a moment, and then hesitantly took the sword, nodding to Poe her thanks. As the soldier stepped back, she felt the weight of the actual blade in her hands – both the physical and the mental weight of it.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Unsheathe it!” Vaati chided.

She frowned, but nodded to herself and to her teacher. The sword came from the sheathe easily, but she found herself losing her balance quickly, the end result having her awkwardly repositioning her footing as she discarded the sheathe. It really was frightening to her how heavy this chunk of metal was in her hands, but when she found her footing, she held it in front of her as confidently as she could manage.

That confidence was apparently amusing to Vaati, whose smirk was as condescending as ever. “You are, at the very least, trying.” He took his blade in hand and walked up to her, whapping her legs with the flat of his blade. “Bend this knee, stop being so tense. And straighten your back – a slouch would kill you in a second.” She retained a snarl, but fell into the new position. It was awkward, but she maintained it and received a nod of approval from her ill-tempered teacher.

Satisfied, he stepped away from her and took his own stance, “Follow along – if you’re quick enough I might be able to teach you more than one set.” And he proceeded to begin a five step series of slashes in midair, slow enough for her follow.

The lesson proceeded, and Zelda still had trouble believing this was actually a serious lesson. She had been told she was going to be training in magic, and while his logic for swordplay was well and good, this had been the last thing she had expected. A mage, after all, was not normally associated with the ways of the sword. When her mind wandered as she practiced the sets, it wandered to her father’s story from 30 years ago – specifically the part in which Vaati supposedly took part in the sword fighting tourney and won. The first thought that occurred to her when she really thought of it was that he had simply cheated somehow, but swinging the sets alongside him made her begin to doubt that original theory. But her wandering mind clearly shown, as Vaati would constantly stop and reprimand her for losing her focus.

Her progress in the first set was enough for Vaati to deem her ready to advance to the next set, but her arms were screaming from the weight of the heavy metal. She never complained, but, since he always seemed to be able to read her, the mage scowled as ordered her to drop the sword and take a break.

Zelda hid her relief and she went over to Poe and offered his sword back to him. The soldier looked at her proudly and offered her canteen. With a smile she took it and sat down at the base of a tree as she drank. After she wiped the sweat from her brow, she sighed and looked up at the clearing in the sky. The results were not in yet, but she knew she would be feeling the burn all over her body the next day. Vaati, however, didn’t seem the least bit tired; he continued to practice the sets on some unseen enemy. Each strike was precise and quick – much quicker than the slow motion movements he had been showing her so she could catch on.

“Where did you learn to handle a sword?” She blurted out.

The mage paused in the middle of his practice to glance over his shoulder at her. He didn’t look pleased, but replied anyways, “Since the moment I was able to carry one.” And with his gruff response finished, he proceeded to finish off the set.

“But you were a Picori before, and the apprentice to a sage. Why would a Picori have any business learning to use a blade?” The moment she finished her words, she immediately regretted them. He had come to a complete stop in his newest set, and he didn’t even look over his shoulder at her. The temperature in the Four Sword Shrine even seemed to have dropped. A part of her wanted to say ‘Never mind, you don‘t have to answer,’ but she refused to look the coward in front of him.

After a few moments of complete silence, he turned and looked at her. There was no identifiable expression on his face as his eyes bored into hers. It was incredibly unsettling, but she straightened her back as she sat and kept her face firm. Finally, he sniffed indignantly, “When you’re the size of a mouse, everything tries to kill you. It’s prudent to have a skill set that ensures your own survival.”

As she thought on it, she realized the sense that made; the world was a lot different from the perspective of the tiny. She could remember how her father spoke of how the whole world changed when he was the size of a Picori – how something as simple as a fly became a horrid beast. Just imagining the scenario, she couldn’t help but be fascinated. “What was life as a Picori like?”

And where she regretted before, she immediately realized her mistake here. Vaati’s eyebrow twitched. For a moment, she feared a repeat of the time she came to her lessons late, being forced onto her knees as the wind howled angrily around her. There was no question in her mind that the wind mage was absolutely seething at her line of questioning. But to her great surprise, Vaati slowly answered, “I don’t remember.”

There was an awkward silence. It certainly was not the reaction or answer she had expected from the mage. He huffed, looking away from her and apparently debating on whether or not to continue practicing his set. But instead he felt the stronger need to justify his words, “The memories of my life before I took this form have faded after I was holed up in that goddess forsaken sword – and I consider it good riddance. There’s nothing worth remembering from that life.”

 _Is he… self-conscious?_ She couldn’t think of any other reason why he would feel the need to clarify. For a man with such an explosive temper and large ego, she certainly hadn’t expected that not remembering his past would be the thing that made him doubt himself. But she also knew that the longer he spent doubting, the more his temper would grow.

“So, thirty years ago at the tourney, you won with your own skill?” She quickly asked. Surely talking about himself and his successes would lighten his mood.

And it worked. His chest swelled with pride, “Of course I did, even though my methods were apparently ‘in bad taste.’ But a win is a win, and in a real battle, the only rules are to survive.” He looked back to her with his prideful sneer, “And I certainly am a survivor.”

The redhead blinked, and then let out a humorless chuckle. “Yes, you certainly are.”

“And I aim to make you a survivor as well.” He took his blade back into his hand and pointed it at her, “Take back the sword and try to come at me with what little you know.”

The fire burned brightly behind her eyes. She picked herself up and retook the sword that she had borrowed from Poe, beginning her first “spar” with the mage. Poe looked on with pride at both his friend and his master. Zelda had managed to roll with the punches, always picking herself no matter what Master Vaati had thrown at her. And Master Vaati was evolving in his own way, learning how to endear himself to the princess and keeping his temper in check. In a way, Poe almost felt like they were bringing out new parts of each other that would have otherwise remained hidden within them had they not interacted.

Poe watched as Zelda charged at Vaati, and the mage easily parried her. What had started as something so serious was now becoming something else. The princess, he noted, was actually smiling as she kept attempting to strike at his master. Vaati himself wasn’t smiling - he never really did - but he did have a bemused look upon him. That particular look was reserved for his discovery on just how feisty the princess could be, something that Poe worried might have worked to her detriment at first, but now developed into some fascination with how far he could take her.

When Zelda fell face first upon the ground, the extent of the changes shown almost immediately. Master Vaati laughed in the insensitive manner he always did, and Zelda was quick to pick herself up and tell him how disrespectful he was being, but as she said it, her smile remained, and even she began to chuckle. The soldier couldn’t help but smile to himself as he watched them, feeling something warm and fuzzy inside his own heart that he never would have thought possible.

* * *

 

The sun was setting as Zelda and Poe rode across Hyrule Field and back to Hyrule Castle. Despite the fact she hadn’t done any magic training in her lesson that day, the redheaded princess couldn’t help but feel even more invigorated than usual. She knew she would hurt in the morning, but there was something about the physicality of swordplay that made her feel alive. But now that she had thought of it… “I don’t think I’ve ever felt so proud of myself, Poe.” She confessed as she looked over her shoulder at him.

The soldier grinned at her, “I think you’ve been working harder than you ever have before. I think you have every reason to feel good about yourself.”

At first, she thought maybe she should’ve taken some offense to his words. But then Zelda grinned back at him and laughed. There was no reason to get angry, because he was absolutely right. When had she ever been so busy? The fact that she was managing to come out on top despite her strife just made her feel all the better about herself. _And to think it’s all because I’m studying under one of the most terrifying mages in recent history!_

The princess laughed and exchanged stories with Poe in a manner she felt she hadn’t done since before she was aware of Vaati’s escape. It was so very refreshing – it almost felt _normal_.

The reminder that “normal” was no longer a part of her life, however, was waiting at the stables. As she and Poe were dismounting their horses and handing the reins off to the stable boy, another solider approached. The pinched face that Poe wore told Zelda immediately who it was.

“Poe, your captain has been looking for you – he says it’s urgent.” Gibdo reported cordially.

Her friend scowled, and then looked to Zelda, “Have to go – I’ll see you later.”

The girl waved him off, and then did her own best to attempt to ignore Gibdo. There was a sense of awkwardness she felt, in knowing that she had unwittingly put her friend in danger for his “affiliations.” He hadn’t done anything wrong after all, so what was wrong with if he also served Vaati whilst serving Hyrule – no harm had come from it. But Gibdo was quick to step in front of her as she attempted to speed past. “Princess, I’m sorry to interrupt you. I just felt I needed to ask you before I asked anyone else.”

Blinking, she stepped back in surprise, “Eh? Ask me…? About what? About Poe? I told you-”

“No, no, not about Poe… Well, a bit about Poe. But mostly about you.” The elder brother clarified.

Again, she blinked blankly. “About me?” The confusion was quick to leave and be replaced by anger. Who was Gibdo to ask her that? Anything about her was none of his business, even if she was friends with his little brother.

But Gibdo was quick to continue, not leaving her a chance to respond in her outrage. “The other night, Poe was in the stables. He said that some children from the town snuck in and set Epona loose.”

“Is that so? Well, Epona found her way back, didn’t she? What does it matter?” Zelda snapped haughtily as she crossed her arms in front of herself.

“It matters because I noticed that Epona’s saddle and bridle were also gone.”

She stiffened at that response. Her brain immediately threw images into her head, memories of the night she was so exhausted that Vaati had been yelling bloody murder at her. Poe had waited for her in the stables with Epona at the ready. That was the only time there was room for such an error, she was sure. A reply to justify what Gibdo had seen did not come to her, leaving her opening and closing her mouth and she struggled to figure something out.

Gibdo’s normally serious expression softened. “I wanted to ask you about this before I reported it to your father.” He leaned in closer, speaking quieter than before, “You came to me once and asked for my discretion during a time of distress. As a soldier loyal to the crown, it is my last intention to bring you any more distress. As Poe’s older brother, I’m concerned about your earlier apprehensions and now his going along with this. But I also can’t keep secrets from your father if you’re doing anything dangerous. Taking a ride in the middle of the night is very hard behavior to justify.”

Her heart was pounding in her chest. Had she been caught in a lie? _N-no, I haven’t lied about anything… yet._ And that was a lie too. Zelda had already lied so much these past few weeks; being cornered like this was a pressure she hadn’t felt before. How should she react? What was she expected to say? Certainly, she couldn’t say the truth! No matter what she said it would be reported to her father…

“Princess? Are you going to offer an explanation?”

“I… I…” No matter what she said, she would be in some sort of trouble. The trick was to say something that would have a “lenient” penalty, and she wasn’t coming up with much. Until a particular memory from the day of her 17th birthday came to mind. “I have a suitor!” As soon as the words blurted from her mouth, she regretted them. But it was too late to take it back. With a furious blush upon her face, she stuttered, “I-I have a suitor! And… and I’ve been meeting with him in secret!”

Gibdo was now looking at her like if she had grown a second head. Really, she couldn’t blame him. Of all the things to pop into her head to save her from a “severe” punishment, that definitely would not have been her first choice. And as if to emphasize that her blurted out lie was a terrible idea, she heard a bucket drop to the floor and grains spilling out. Both she and Gibdo looked over to the sound to see the stable boy staring wide eyed at the princess.

_Oh no…_


	13. Chapter 13

Zelda’s day could not get anymore awkward. Gibdo had agreed not to mention her late night outing to her father, out of respect for her reputation, but there was unfortunately no hiding the news of her “suitor.” The stable boy had excitedly run off and was hollering the newest bit of exciting news, so no matter what she did, her father was going to hear of her most outrageous lie yet. And as a result, she received a message from her father, inviting her to sit for a cozy dinner in his office, just like the old days. She had been hiding in the hedge maze as she read the note, and in her frustration she crumpled it up and threw it aside.

Hiding forever was not an option for her, unfortunately. Miserably, she headed to her room and changed into a proper dress for dinner, rather than the riding dress she hadn’t bothered to change out of since her luckless choice of words just earlier. Given the option, she would have dug a hole, gone inside, and never come out to see the light of day again. That would be delaying the inevitable, however, so she did her best to hold her chin high and entered the Prince-Regent’s office.

Link’s eyes brightened when she entered the room. Like the proper gentleman he was, he rose when she entered, guiding her to her seat and then taking his own again.

Silence followed.

Zelda made no effort to try and speak, choosing instead to focus all of her attention on a specific spot on the desk in front of her. She would rather think of anything than what would no doubt be one of the most awkward conversations she would ever have in her life.

“So Ione, you’re always vanishing in the afternoons.” A small wince came upon her as her father began. “And the rumors have certainly exploded as to why. I hadn’t expected to hear anything about a suitor, I’ll admit.” She dared to look her father’s direction then, surprised to see he didn’t seem to be put off at all. In fact, he wore a smile. “Is it safe to say you vanish so often to meet with this young man?”

Inwardly, she huffed. After all, the “suitor” was likely older than her father, even if he didn’t look it. But the redhead couldn’t bring herself to vocalize a proper answer, so she simply gave a stiff nod with her burning face and went back to trying to focus on the desk.

Link nodded back, but conversation was halted for a moment as the maids came in and brought their meals. Zelda merely poked her food, but couldn’t bring herself to eat. Honestly, her stomach was jumping hoops, and she wasn’t sure that she’d be able to keep anything she ate down. With her father going ahead to continue the conversation, she wasn’t willing to chance it.

“I do remember on your birthday saying that I’d no longer interfere if someone wished to court you… But as your father, I do feel it necessary to warn you to not get too careless. Please, be careful. Men, especially men your age, aren’t always honest with their intentions.”

 _You have no idea, Daddy._ The princess thought to herself. The anxiety building within her didn’t cease its nagging. Thirsty, she reached for her glass of water.

“Is this suitor of yours anyone I know?”

She nearly choked.

Link immediately rose to help his daughter, but she held her hand in protest and did her best to regain her composure. When the coughing had died down, she took a breath and then hoarsely responded, “Y-yes…” _Not anyone you’d approve of, certainly._ Not that Vaati was courting her!

Worried from her choking fit, he looked at her uneasily, but he nodded, getting back to the conversation. “Ah… that’s good to know. Hopefully that will not make it too awkward for him, though I’d have liked it if he came to declare his intentions for you to me, firs-”

He was interrupted by the sounds of laughter from the hallway, causing both father and daughter to look at the door to the hallway in surprise. The laughter didn’t last, as the pair that was having such an apparent good time likely took notice of where they were in the castle and contained themselves. Link looked to his daughter with a tired, but not unhappy, expression. “The official Harvest Festival celebration may be postponed, but I hear that it’s not really stopping most people from having pre-celebratory parties.”

People did like any excuse to party, she thought to herself. _I was like that once too._ Now, she just wanted people to stop looking at her.

“Perhaps when the official celebration does happen, however I can meet this beau of yours?”

Immediately, she stood up. “I-I have to go. Please excuse me, Da- Father.” She didn’t even wait for a response, hastily heading towards the doors despite hearing her father rise and raising a protest. She didn’t heed them, throwing the door open quickly as she made to rush out.

But she was foiled in her quick escape. Where she thought there would be empty space perfect for her to break out into a full on sprint, instead a person stood there. A woman.

Malon stood right in front of her, surprise clearly visible on her face. The ranch mistress was wearing a thin layer of makeup and a dark blue dress that Zelda had never seen on her before. Being so close to her, the princess could even catch a whiff of a light floral smell. If Zelda hadn’t nearly crashed into her, she might not have even recognized the woman as her father’s longtime friend.

 _“Your daughter isn’t the only one who thinks of you as precious!”_ The words echoed in her mind, then. Malon’s words, spoken to her father in privacy, behind closed doors when his fate was still so uncertain.

Without even saying a word, she stepped around Malon and resumed her hasty getaway. _I’m… I’m in the way._

Her father had invited Malon to dinner. Zelda was just an afterthought, brought in at the last minute upon the rumor mill churning out her lie of a suitor. After all, why would he want to spend time with her again like “old times?” Too much had changed between them, there was no more trust between father and daughter. _He wants Malon there, not me._

And that was… fine. It was just fine. After all, he’d never even looked at another woman aside from her mother. Even a faithless liar like him deserved to find happiness with someone else, she thought bitterly; and Malon certainly deserved to find her happiness. Who was she to butt in? She was an adult now, after all; and with all the mistrust between them, being a daddy’s girl was no longer in her realm of possibility.

No longer a possibility and… it was fine. In fact, she had stopped her rushing to her room, and had begun to take a more leisurely pace. Even when she arrived, she was able to go in and close her door quietly. Whereas before the thoughts of her father possibly leaving her life forever in some way had bothered her, now she was perfectly okay with it, not as bothered by the prospect as she had originally thought. What really bothered her was-

“A suitor, eh? I must say, dear Princess, I’d no idea you thought of me in such a manner.”

 _That_. That was what was really bothering her. The girl looked over to her balcony doors, partly opened since she had never closed them earlier. Sitting upon the balcony balustrade was a singular beholder, its eye looking incredibly smug. Irritated but otherwise unaffected, she walked over to the balcony and leaned over the balustrade near the creature. “Poe’s brother was suspicious and I was put on the spot; I simply blurted out the first thing that came to mind.” With a sigh, she hung her head in shame, “Now everyone is spreading more rumors about me. It seems I’ll never cease to be a source of entertainment.”

“It’s the price of being a public figure,” Vaati said matter-of-factly through the beholder. It flitted off from its perch and hovered below Zelda’s face, the singular red eye meeting her gaze. “But what does it matter what they think? Why should you care about what anyone else has to say of you?”

Zelda’s heart skipped a beat, unsure what to make of this sudden change from teasing to concern. “B-because I’ll be leading the kingdom someday, their approval-”

“Means nothing if you’re the goddess chosen heir to the throne.” The beholder Vaati spoke through flew back to its previous perch then, its singular gaze still upon her. “All it serves to do by paying attention to their words is make you a pathetic and miserable mess. It’s irritating.” Now that sounded more like Vaati, she thought. She stood up straight and put a hand on her hip, glaring at the beholder. The creature’s eye seemed to have a sparkle in it now. “There’s that annoying haughtiness of yours I’ve come to respect. It suits you better than being a sobbing mess.”

“Why are you even here?” Zelda asked, exasperated, “To mock me about my slip of the tongue?”

A chuckle warbled through the bat-like creature, “It was an amusing slip, I’ll admit.” The beholder again took flight, hovering inches away from her face, yet again. Except this time, she could almost see Vaati on the other end of its pupil. His expression would be cocky, as it always would be, but teasing. “Perhaps it was even wishful thinking?”

Her hand went to swat at the creature, but her strike was half-hearted and it dodged easily enough. Another chuckle escaped from the beholder, “That aside, my visit is in relation to your little slip. People are going to be having their eyes on you all the time, much as you may hate it. Gossip is such a past-time for your kind, after all. That would make it rather tricky, I think, to continue our lessons as they’ve been going. But I suppose you make decent enough progress, as well, so you can consider this a vacation: no lessons until further notice.”

The princess’s jaw dropped. “What?” It wasn’t shock that came from her mouth, but indignation. “No! I need to continue! If I stop now, I’ll lose progress!”

“Amazing how one day you go from saying I’m too rigorous to now craving your torture,” the wind mage drawled, the beholder’s eye rolling in displeasure. But it quickly focused in on her, its pupil narrowed and anger emanating from its gaze, “Unfortunately, I’d rather keep your father from finding out I’m alive and well. Unless you want someone to follow you and, as a result, a mysterious statue will take residence in Hyrule Field?”

The hiss in Vaati’s voice had her unconsciously step back for a moment. He was upset… and she could see why. It was unreasonable right now, when rumors were flooding about who her “mystery suitor” was, that she could even think of wandering anywhere without being followed. Vaati was her secret; she made a promise to him, a promise on her very soul that she would make no move to use the Four Sword on him. In her mind, that also extended to her father. If Zelda was caught with a man who looked like her father’s foe from thirty years ago, her father would take up the Sword again. “I’ll consider it a test of patience then…” she conceded.

The beholder hovered in front of her silently for a moment, “Good.” Vaati’s response was curt, but the beholder then went and circled around her, “Very good.” This time, it seemed genuine. She let out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding.

Laughter erupted from down below then, catching both the attention of Zelda and Vaati. Off duty guardsman were walking along, bottles in hand, exclaiming how they were heading to the town for a good time. The princess sighed, hoping the townspeople wouldn’t get all their festivities drained away before the postponed celebration began.

Vaati seemed less impressed through his Beholder, the bat creature holding itself in a manner she could only describe as self-important. “You Hylians are a confusing lot; I fail to see the merits of losing all sense of motor control in ‘celebration.’”

The princess shrugged, “Say what you will, people will have their fun in ways they see fit. Maybe you should try it sometime.”

With a sniff, the beholder ‘poofed’ away in a puff of purple smoke. It was Zelda’s turn to roll her eyes. To think of all excuses she could come up with, it had to be that she had a “suitor.” Again, she felt the embarrassment well up inside of her. _I just keep putting myself into corners…_ Yet despite the fact it should have been a miserable chain of thought, a small smile played upon her lips. Cornered she may have been at every turn, but she felt she’d grown so much. _Insufferable as he can be… I do owe him thanks._

* * *

 

It was an unusual request from the Master, Poe thought. Vaati tended to be fiercely independent, and if there was one thing the wind mage made absolutely clear, it was that Poe was lower than the dirt beneath his boots. As such, the soldier felt incredibly out of place, yet highly honored, that Vaati had invited himself into his house and said, “Show me around this hovel of a town.”

So now, in deathly silence, Poe was guiding his Master, who had glamoured himself with a more “human” complexion and darkened hair, around the very active and boisterous town. The off duty Poe simply led his Master around, identifying some establishments as he knew them and making no small talk with the Master – his Master wasn’t fond of small talk. Even loking over his shoulder at Vaati would send chills up his spine, as the wind mage seemed to have a pinched look on his face constantly – as if everything he saw was offending.

Luckily, anyone that might have known Poe was already too drunk to recognize him, so no one stopped to ask who the stranger with him was. If there was one thing he could say, it was the Harvest Festival’s official celebration may have been delayed, but he was glad people were still getting drunk. Yet evidently, that seemed to be the primary reason that Vaati was so intrigued with the town right now.

“Ten years I’ve observed all these celebrations in Hyrule, and they still never cease to amaze me. I fail to see the point in all of this.” Vaati had finally confessed when they had taken a break from their exploration. They stood in the corner of a big pitched tent, where crowds of people were gathered around tables hooting and hollering their drunken heads off. The wind mage didn’t seem at all impressed, and even seemed to look like he’d seen something incredibly uncivilized as a group of men all stood up with arms linked and began to slur a song loudly that the rest of the tent sung along with them.

Poe fidgeted, then, unsure as to how to ask when he knew a line of questioning similar to the one he had right now didn’t go over well with the Princess earlier. “Erm… if I’m free to speak, sir… Ah, where you’re originally from… they didn’t do things like this?”

A blast of wind came from nowhere, the tent’s canvas blowing around wildly while woman giggled as they attempted to keep their skirts up. It was a spot of strange weather for the folks in the tent, when it actuality it had been a knockdown blast Poe, who was writhing in pain as Vaati’s heel dug into the base of his back. “Oh, Poe, you seem to have fallen down. _How unfortunate._ ” His heel grinded harder, and Poe let out an extended “aaaaaaargh” before managing a, “I-I’m sorry – a th-thousand apologies, M-Master…”

The sweet release of freedom came after a moment when Vaati had apparently thought the apology passable, and Poe shakily brought himself back up. His Master’s face was clear in that his anger was barely contained, and the off-duty soldier was all too glad when a minor distraction came in the form of a serving girl with a tray of mugs. “On the house, sirs~” She said sweetly.

Poe quickly took a mug and downed it instantly, needing the extra fortitude to deal with his unruly lord, while Vaati looked at the girl uninterestedly and eventually took a mug when he realized the girl wasn’t leaving. Upon Vaati taking the mug, she gave a poor curtsy and left, leaving the mage to sniff the contents of the mug and grimace. “It smells like alcoholic sewer water.”

The soldier smiled nervously, “Well, it doesn’t taste like it, thankfully. It’s actually sweet.”

Sloshing the contents of the mug suspiciously, the disguised mage didn’t seem convinced. “What’s the point of it? Drinking this “sweet” swill and losing all sense of yourself? I fail to see the benefits of it. Explain it.” He commanded.

“Uuuuuuh,” Poe had to think on it for a moment. Never having been a spiritual or religious man, he wasn’t quite sure as to the origins of the Harvest Festival, but he could make educated guesses. “Erm, well, I think it started off as a way to give thanks to Farore for providing a good bounty in the harvest, or maybe a way to keep her happy. Either way, I think it went from that to just a reason for people to have fun.”

“Tch,” Vaati’s tongue clicked in displeasure. “The girl said the same thing earlier.”

 _Ah_ , now Vaati’s sudden interest in the Festival made more sense. Zelda had mentioned that the townsfolk had fun in all of this, Poe guessed. It wasn’t something his Master was likely to admit, but the princess was having the tiniest little influences on him. After all, when you went and built a bridge, it did cross both ways.

Another silence came upon them, with Poe noting that his Master was still sloshing the drink around curiously. “… Did you, erm, want to try, Master?”

Vaati looked at him with indignation and spat, “Don’t be absurd.”

With a flinch, Poe dropped the subject… but Vaati still kept waving the drink in his hand around. “Ah, well, it’s true the free stuff they give out here isn’t great but… Back at my place there’s a homemade brew that my father used to make before he… uh, died. It’s sweeter, tastes much better than this stuff…”

More silence passed, but after a moment, Vaati had seemed to come to a conclusion. He dumped the mug’s contents onto the grass and then tossed the mug, proudly declaring, “I shall try your family’s recipe. But only once.”

* * *

 

Going to bed without properly eating was a miserable experience. Awkward as it had been attempting to speak with her father, she should have at least tried to eat something… But she refused to go out and have drunken servants pester her as to the identity of her fictional suitor. So with little choice, she had curled up in her bed and had her blankets pulled around her tightly, all while attempting to ignore the far off sounds of servants having their “unofficial” fun.

But it was getting hard to ignore that annoying tapping sound… until she realized it was coming off the panes of her balcony door. _Ugh, what does he want now?_ He had just told her there wasn’t going to be training for the next few days, and they hadn’t done nightly training in a while. Zelda had resolved herself to ignore the tapping, but the more she heard, the more irritating it became. So she had given up and began the annoyed march to her balcony, but slowed down in alarm when she noted the odd sight behind her doors.

There were three beholders, one rolling on the floor, the other also on the floor but attempting to fly and failing miserably, and the last one who was rolling back and forth, its little horns tapping her doors with little rhyme or reason. In all the years she’d noted the creatures, she had never once seem them act like this.

Gingerly, she approached and opened one of the doors. The little winged eye rolled numbly, and she noted that it was half-lidded and unfocused. “Z-Zelda?! Zelda, are you there?!”

Her eyes shot open in panic, and she picked up the limp creature. “Poe?! Poe, is that you? What’s wrong?” He sounded terrified!

“Zelda-” he sobbed, “It’s awful, it’s Master Vaati! He just won’t sto-”

“Poooooooooooooe, Pooooooooooooe-” it was Vaati’s voice, sounding as if it was from far away. The little beholder in her hands swayed half-heartedly. “Whu-whus going on, there? Whater you doiiiing?”

“Oh goddesses no, Master Vaati, put that down! I’m over here!”

“D-don’t speak t’me like that! I’ll tear down this whooooole place! Wipe it cleeeeeear off the map! R-remember who I am!”

A cold sweat came upon her. What was happening? Was Vaati so clouded in anger and rage he could barely speak properly? “P-Poe, are you all right? Where are you?!”

“Zelda, _please_ , I need your help – just come to my house right away!” And just then, she heard something crashing down and Poe screaming.

Without a second thought, she tossed the beholder aside, and threw on a pair of shoes. She didn’t even care that she was still in a nightgown; the princess just did her best to tear down the halls and sprint out, not even paying attention to how lucky she was that anyone who saw her was sloshed out of their wits or unable to recognize her from how fast she forced herself to go. In her worry, she’d barely paid any attention to any of that, until she was in Castle Town and realized that she’d only ever been to Poe’s residence a couple of times.

Tearing this way and that, trying to force her memory to remember the route to her friend’s house, she couldn’t have been more grateful to the goddesses when she found the house. Zelda didn’t even knock; she threw open the door and rushed in, “Poe!?”

What she saw was not at all what she had ever expected to see.

Vaati was twirling and spinning on a support beam of the house, dancing and grinding up against it as _nude as the day he was born_. “M-Master, noooo!” She heard Poe cry from the other room. The next thing she knew, the soldier had tackled the mage to ground and threw his cloak upon him, to which the wind mage cried out all sorts of obscenities.

In all honesty, the princess wasn’t sure whether to back out of the house and pretend she hadn’t seen anything, or stay and attempt to help. What made the decision for her, however, was seeing Poe break down into a sobbing mess as Vaati had escaped the soldier and flew off into the next room tangled in his cloak, and a deafening crashing sound rung out through the house. She closed the door behind her and stepped in, her mind attempting to forget the sight she’d just seen and failing miserably. “P-Poe?”

From his crumpled heap, her friend looked over his shoulder at her, tears streaking down his face and crooked nose. He rose up and immediately went and embraced her, bawling, “I-it’s terrible! He just s-said he’d try one, and th-then he ended up-p-p liking it! And I was l-like, ‘this is nice, bonding with the Masssster,’ b-but I had no idea h-he had no t-toler-eraaaance!” She patted him awkwardly as he cried into her shoulder.

Here she had thought that Vaati was in an inconsolable rage. Instead, he was just… really, really drunk.

“ _Poe._ ”

The sound of Vaati’s voice sent a chill up her spine, and even in her arms Poe felt like he’d frozen in place. She could see Vaati picking himself up from what seemed to be a newly broken bookcase. Zelda was all too glad that his cloak covered him up, but, drunken haze he may have been in, his anger was very obvious.

With a yelp, Poe was torn away from her. Zelda gasped, wide eyed with terror when she saw that Poe had flown towards Vaati, and the mage had a healthy and tight grasp around her friend’s neck. The soldier hacked, trying to keep his lungs filled with air, while Vaati just eyed the man with venom in his gaze. “What… do you think you’re doing?” Angry as he was, there was still a slur in his voice.

The princess immediately ran forward, grabbing into Vaati’s outstretched arm and attempting to get him to drop Poe. “V-Vaati, stop! What are you doing?!”

“I never gave him permission for that.” His voice was still slurred, but his words will still sharp and his grip on his servant’s neck seemed to grow tighter. As Poe’s color faded and began to slowly turn blue, Zelda’s panic only rose. Tears began to spring to her eyes, “Permission? Whatever it was he did wrong, he didn’t mean it! Please, let him go!”

At first, she thought her plea went on deaf ears; but to her great relief, the vice grip the mage had upon Poe was released. The soldier fell to his knees and clawed at his neck, taking deep breaths in. The princess took a step towards Poe, but found herself yanked by her waist and held to Vaati’s side. The hacking and coughing of Poe was momentarily forgotten as Vaati’s face hovered so close to her own. A furious blush came upon her face as his red eyes bored into her blue. She’d almost forgotten that he was wearing nothing but his cloak. Almost.

Like a deer frozen by the sound of a hunter, she didn’t move unsure as to what would happen.

Vaati’s free hand cupped her chin, and his intense expression softened for a moment, turning into one of fascination. “Goddesses, you _are_ beautiful.”

The blush on her face intensified, but she couldn’t help but wince at the smell of alcohol on his breath. “Ah, thank you but…” She wriggled herself out of his grip, stepping backwards and taking a glance down to see Poe was recovering well and now looked at her in worry. “Vaati, perhaps you should put on some pants?”

If the mage heard, he made no move to acquiesce to the suggestion. Instead, he glided quickly over to her, the wind knocking her off her balance and releasing a yelp from her. But the mage caught her, dipping her down as if they were dancing. Again, his gaze bored into hers, and the girl wasn’t sure if her face was capable of getting redder than it already was. “It’s not… not so absurd.” The mage slurred breathily. “I _could_ be your suitor.”

“H-huh?!”

The mage’s free hand grabbed one of her own hands; he never broke eye contact. He had the look of a man that had decided on something and wouldn’t be stopped. “You and I will marry.”

“Wha- wait, n-no-” precise words and phrases were escaping her, confusion and all sorts of crazy thoughts running through her brain all at once. Vaati, the enemy of her father and all of Hyrule, drunk beyond all reason and wearing nothing but a cloak and his birthday suit, was dipping her dramatically and proposing marriage. No, no, proposing marriage involved _asking_. He was declaring it like fact. And with that, the redhead’s confusion died down, and her expression went from flustered to flat. “Vaati, you’re drunk.”

He pouted, the last expression Zelda ever thought she would see the mage wear. He opened his mouth, clearly having something on his mind and about to say it loud and proud. And then his eyes rolled back and he schlumped ungracefully to the floor, the princess going down with him with an “oomph” of discomfort. “V-Vaati, get off of me at once!”

But it was no use, the mage was completely passed out.

Poe scrambled onto his feet and picked his master up, holding him up against his shoulder. Zelda picked her own self up, brushing herself off and not sure she’d ever get the lingering scent of a naked, drunk Vaati off of her nightgown. She paused in her thought process when she realized what she was wearing. The flush returned to her face, but she supposed it was far too late to run to the castle and get something more appropriate. Exhausted and with a headache coming on, she said, “Come, Poe, let’s set him on the bench there.”

The soldier nodded, setting the passed out mage upon the bench by an old, clouded window. Zelda sat for a moment as she went to place a pillow under the mage’s head. But the mage was still not out of surprises. The moment the girl had went to move his head, the mage shot at her, embracing her waist and then sliding back down to her lap. Zelda let out a sigh of frustration, looking at the mage’s sleeping face and noting how dumb and satisfied it looked. She was about to push him off, but Poe stopped her, hoarsely saying, “No, no, he… he might wake up again…”

The glare she sent at her friend was like ice, but she made no other motion. She simply sat there, finding herself grateful that at least the mage’s cape was keeping him relatively decent.

After calming herself down, she looked to Poe, who was attempting to pick up the shattered remains of his home. “Are you going to be all right?” She asked him. “I can help – you should get some rest, I think you’ve had a chaotic night…”

Poe waved her off, “No, I’ve got this.” But as he said that, he slumped to his knees and began sobbing again. “Oh goddesses I’m going to be in soooo much trouble tomorrow…”

It pained her to see her friend like that. She tried to move her legs, see if she could somehow maneuver her way from the passed out Vaati to go comfort her friend; but her slight movement had the mage’s unconscious embrace tighten on her. She sighed, “I’m sorry, Poe. I was not much help…”

The solider looked up from his sobbing, wiping the tears from his face and offering her a smile. “N-no, thank you, Princess. For just being here, at least.” He then rose, shuffling uncomfortably in place, as if embarrassed by what he’d just said. “I, uh… I’ll continue trying to clean up…” With no choice but to leave him to his work, she nodded.

The girl looked down at her “charge” then, so content to make himself comfortable on her lap. This sleeping Vaati, she noted, was so much more different than temperamental and unruly mage she knew. She had never guessed she would ever see him like this. _But I never guessed I would see him_ drunk _either._ She snorted with the thought, yet couldn’t help but wonder why he would get drunk in the first place. Especially after he had expressed such disgust for servants earlier who had so looked forward to their wild drinking sprees. Then again, she had told him that he should “try it sometime.”

Her brows knit in confusion. She brushed his purple locks aside from his eyes, leaning down to get a closer look at his stupidly calm and content face. _Despite your terrifying and angry self… you’re just the same as any of us, aren’t you?_ Zelda thought. She sat up again, but her eyes never left the sleeping face of the supposedly terrifying wind mage, the enemy of Hyrule… _You’re just an angry man with the power of the gods at your fingertips._ She had begun to absently stroke his hair, _Just a man…_

Briefly, she recalled the time he had carried her through the sky to show her the Palace of Winds. She remembered thinking that he was handsome… Now that she saw him sleeping so peacefully, she couldn’t help but think of him as cute almost. _B-but try to remember just what he did before to Poe!_ She scolded herself in her mind.

He was a terrifying and powerful force… But she remembered her most recent thoughts: just a man with great power. And right now, he was just a sleeping man.

When Poe next arrived to check in on the princess, her head was leaning against the age-fogged panes of the window, sleeping just as peacefully as his Master. It was a sight that he never thought he would see, but a sight that warmed his shriveled serial killer heart. He didn’t look forward to the pain that would no doubt be brought to him in the morning… but for now, everything was fine.

He had ended up falling asleep at his kitchen table, his home still a mess…

Until he heard a _thunk_ , followed by a hissing series of cusses. Poe sat up immediately, making sure he was hearing correctly. Assured that he was, he gingerly stepped towards his doorway, being careful to try not to step on the broken shards of pottery that had fallen from the broken shelves of the night before. Through the doorway he saw his Master picking himself up from the floor, cussing silently while Zelda remained asleep on the wicker bench.

“M-Master…” Poe whispered, attempting not to be too loud for both the sake of his Master and the sleeping princess.

At first, the only response from Vaati was an irate growl. Then the mage peered over his shoulder with deep shadows under his eyes, misery and anger etched in his gaze. He looked from Poe, and then to the princess, and then all around the house. Another angry growl emanated from the mage, but he kept his voice down. “Clothes.”

Poe did his best to quickly and silently hand his Master the clothes he had discarded when he had claimed the night before that the air was unseasonably warm and humid, he’d drown in his own clothing. Vaati yanked them from his servant and hastily put them back on himself, and as he did so hissed, “What happened? Why is the girl here?”

Poe did his best to explain the situation without seeming too offensive: about how Vaati had tried his father’s homemade moonshine and insisted on another, and another, and another, until Poe realized it was far too late. He left out the mention about how once nude, Vaati became inspired to try a dance he’d seen illustrated in Wind Tribe manuscripts around one of the house’s support beams – a dance that was supposedly “empowering and inspiring.” There was no trying to hide the fact that he had called Zelda out of desperation, however.

Vaati was not happy to hear that. “She _saw_ me in such a state?!”

Poe visibly winced, noting how it looked like a vein was about to explode upon Vaati’s head. “I-I will gladly accept a-any punishment you see fitting f-for this, M-Master!”

In a repeat of the night before, Vaati had his hand on Poe’s throat. The soldier couldn’t help but notice how the very arm of his Master seemed to warp, blacken and sharpen – reminiscent of his beastly demonic form. He hadn’t seen his Master _this_ angry in a very long time, but as his vision fogged through his very life fading, he couldn’t register it entirely. Not until he was released, taking in deep, hacking breaths and he fell roughly to the floor again, writhing in agony as his lungs burned for oxygen.

When his vision began to clear, he saw his Master standing over the princess pensively. Vaati was clearly still livid, and no doubt wondering what he’d said to the girl. As Poe picked himself up, he wondered if his Master had remembered at all. If he had, the soldier couldn’t tell.

Vaati then scooped up the sleeping princess, who stirred lightly but otherwise stayed asleep. “Master?” Poe asked, his voice even more hoarse than before.

“I’m taking her back,” he whispered in a hiss. “It’d be an uproar if she wasn’t found sleeping like an idiot in her room. And an idiot she is for falling asleep around a demon.” To Poe’s surprise, however, the initial irritation seemed to die down as Vaati looked at the girl in his arms. Satisfaction was now upon his face, as if he had just seen some great comedy act and was remembering the best punchlines. “How lucky am I, to have such a trusting moron as my pupil?”

And without any other explanation, a small cyclone enveloped his Master and the princess. Poe held his arms up in front of him to protect his face from the debris of the mess last night until the wind died down. When it did, he lowered his arms and saw that Master and the princess were gone.

Zelda awoke when Vaati had landed his warp at her balcony doors. In truth, she had wanted to flail and scream right out in surprise. But for some odd reason, she was able to contain her initial surprise, and she kept her lids closed. Her eyes opened with the tiniest crack, trying to see if she could read his expression. But all she could see were his pale lips, fallen into an expressionless flat line. Desperately, she wished she could crook her head a bit, to see his eyes and if they reflected the same intensity they had last night. No… the same intensity they always had.

Her heart was actually racing… Could he feel it, she wondered? The princess couldn’t tell, and she was rather afraid to find out – why, she couldn’t say. She remained limp in his arms as he pushed his way through the balcony doors she had never bothered to close in her rush the night before. He simply walked over to her bed and laid her upon it. When he placed her down, her head had naturally rolled so that it was facing away from him. Inwardly she cussed; for some reason, she desperately wanted to see his expression, to see what he would do.

There was simply silence… He hadn’t moved, she could tell because she hadn’t heard him step away from her. The mage simply stood there, and she could even feel his gaze resting upon her. Like a drumbeat at a crescendo, her heart was ever deafening in her ears. He had to have known she was awake! But then she heard steps that calmly left her bedside; the balcony doors closed with a rough rattling sound and the wind howled. Zelda shot up and looked immediately to the doors. Vaati was gone, but her heart was still racing.

 _But why…?_ Why was her heart racing? What had she been hoping for?

A drunken whisper from the haze of last night surfaced in her memory, _“Goddesses, you_ are _beautiful.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with this, both AO3 and FFN versions are in the same place and updated accordingly. If you're interested in that sort of thing, FFN has a lot more creator commentary - I've kind of just been uploading these and getting them out of the way here. 
> 
> For those who don't know me from FFN, just know that my update schedule is nonexistent, and for that I apologize. I do know exactly where the story is going, and its all vaguely planned out... I just need to type it, and that's the challenging part. ovo;;


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